Braves News: Nick Allen injury update, Chris Sale makes history, bullpen shuffle
The Atlanta Braves managed to salvage one game while in Philadelphia this week thanks to a much-needed offensive outburst. However, the starting pitcher last night made a bit of history, too, while continuing his May domination.
Chris Sale and Zack Wheeler entered Thursday night‘s second game of a doubleheader as two of the top candidates for National League Pitcher of the Month in May.
In the end, it was Sale that emerged as the clear favorite for the award after he tossed six innings of shutout baseball. His night finished with some flair, as the final strikeout he picked up was the 2,500th of his career.
Sale became just the 40th pitcher in MLB history to reach that milestone, and is also now the fastest to do so in terms of innings pitched in MLB history, surpassing Randy Johnson.
Braves finally get good injury luck with Nick Allen update
After a couple of injuries in Game 1 of the doubleheader, the Braves finally got a bit of good fortune last night after the injury results for shortstop Nick Allen were revealed. After Allen was hit on the knuckles by a pitch in Thursday night‘s game and had to exit early, fans feared the Braves had lost another starter.
Thankfully, Allen‘s x-rays came back negative, so he should be good to go within the coming days. While Allen doesn’t offer much with the bat, the dropoff in defense is quite noticeable when he’s not out there. He still leads all major league shortstops in OAA with 11, via Baseball savant.
Braves option reliever back to Gwinnett following Phillies series
After the doubleheader was completed last night, the Atlanta Braves optioned Dylan Dodd back to Triple-A Gwinnett. The series with their NL East rival made one thing clear: the bullpen absolutely needs to be shuffled around.
Daysbel Hernandez struggled mightily in each outing this past series, and it’s obvious he needs to be taken out of the eighth inning role Snitker has slotted him into. Should this bullpen continue to falter, don’t be surprised if the front office calls up a rising prospect to get their chance.
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