Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
Players don’t go to see Dr. James Andrews unless there is the potential for a very serious injury.
Related: Just Like Every Year, Nothing ever Comes Easy for Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves‘ Brandon Beachy is scheduled to visit Andrews on Monday. He will miss his next start due to elbow soreness suffered in Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to the New York Mets.
Beachy has made only five starts since coming off the DL after undergoing surgery on June 21 of last year, going 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA. He has looked anything but stellar, and nothing like his form before going down with injury last season (at the time, he was leading the NL with a 2.00 ERA and was virtually unhittable).
That said, his presence in the Atlanta pitching rotation was a tremendous boost after the season-ending injury to Tim Hudson.
Should Beachy have sustained another injury, or aggravated his previous one, he may well be forced to watch the rest of the season from the bench. It is unclear how this would affect the Braves.
With Jason Heyward going down for the rest of the season on Wednesday, the Braves can ill afford another high-profile injury. Perhaps more so than any other team this year, the Braves have shown an incredible resilience and ability to absorb potentially catastrophic injuries. Johnny Venters, Eric O’Flaherty, Ramiro Pena and Hudson all went down at various times with season-ending injuries.
Jordan Schafer, Brian McCann, Evan Gattis, both Upton brothers and Dan Uggla have all experienced (or are currently experiencing) extended stays on the DL.
And yet the Braves still have the best record in baseball.
Losing Beachy is unlikely to be a death sentence for them. The rotation has done without him all year, and Paul Maholm is now back off the DL. Should Beachy have to be declared disabled, Alex Wood has proven himself more than capable of holding down a spot in the rotation. I expect that the Braves won’t miss a beat; it’s just one more obstacle to overcome in an already incredible season.
Rob Holden is an Atlanta Braves writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobMHolden, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
