The Braves list of injuries continued to mount today as Brandon Beachy received the call to visit Dr. James Andrews. With Jason Heyward going down yesterday with a broken jaw, Tim Hudson's ankle getting crushed, Tyler Pastornicky's ACL, and Dan Uggla's eyesight, the last several weeks haven't been kind. However, the team continues to win and is in little danger of missing the playoffs.
But this injury thing has just gotten silly. It was bad early with Jonny Venters, Eric O'Flaherty, Christian Martinez, and Ramiro Pena going down with serious injuries. Then the injury bug calmed down a bit, but Paul Maholm, Evan Gattis, Jordan Schafer, and Reed Johnson still missed some time.
These latest injuries have been the worst of the bunch, but this Braves team seems has been good all year at picking each other up. The rotation still has Mike Minor and Julio Teheran at the top and rookie Alex Wood has been dominant in his August starts. The team really needs Maholm to regain his April form and team up with Kris Medlen to solidify the rotation.
The bats can overcome the Heyward loss for a while, and maybe he can return before the end of September since his jaw didn't need to be wired shut. If anything, these injuries will give guys like Schafer, Gattis, and others more playing time as the team prepares for the postseason.
This years version of the Braves has looked like a dangerous October team all year. Their overall depth and dominant bullpen still make them a threat in a series against anyone. Having a 15 game lead gives you options and time to rest.
The Braves won 12 postseason series from 1991-2001 but are 0-5 since plus last years Wild Card debacle. This needs to be the team to break the drought. Let's just hope there are enough healthy players to field a team this fall.
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