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Though the Atlanta offense had another great night in the box score, the more important action on the field recently has been on the unfortunate string of injuries that have impacted some significant names. Just 24 hours after losing Mike Soroka for the season, it was the Atlanta offense that experienced some negative news.
The #Braves today placed INF Ozzie Albies (right wrist bone contusion) and INF Matt Adams (strained left hamstring) on the 10-day injured list, recalled C Alex Jackson to Atlanta and reinstated OF Nick Markakis from the restricted list.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 5, 2020
For both Ozzie Albies and Matt Adams, these moves were expected after last night. In the case of Albies, reports of him being held out of the lineup and then moved down in the order centered on trying to give his wrist a bit of rest. However, something clearly was still not right when Albies batted left-handed against a left hander last night. As a result, Atlanta decided to not take further risk and allow Albies time to heal.
While the move for Adams today was expected, it was the result of a much more sudden occurrence than Albies. Adams appeared to injure his hamstring while running out a ground ball in the bottom of the fourth inning. Though the hope is that Adams will be back soon, his injury could also take a while to heal. While overall Adams has had a slow start to the season, his power bat option will be missed, as he homered for the second time this season earlier in the game.
In response to losing both Albies and Adams in the near future, the Braves recalled and reinstated a few familiar names in Alex Jackson and Nick Markakis. Jackson filled in for Travis d’Arnaud and Tyler flowers during their COVID-related scares to begin the season, and enjoyed his first hit in the big leagues in the process. He will provide added catcher depth since rosters are still allowed to be expanded.
Yet, the significant news is the return of Markakis. After opting out before the season in response to Freddie Freeman’s bout with COVID-19, Markakis had a change of heart and decided to come back and play. It will be interesting to see how Markakis is used over the next few games. It is likely that he will be a useful bat against right-handers to help the Atlanta offense maintain his production over the past week.