What’s Happening to Atlanta Braves Third Basemen?
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Braves have had terrible luck at third base these last few weeks. I’m not talking about a lack of production offensively. Atlanta has received quality at bats from whomever is playing third base. And that’s the problem. It seems like everybody that has played third for the Braves has gotten hurt this year. How deep can the Braves or really any team in baseball be at the hot corner?
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Chris Johnson broke his wrist at the end of April against the Cincinnati Reds sliding into second head first. Kelly Johnson is on the DL with a strained oblique. And this afternoon we find out that Phil Gosselin wrecked his thumb making an incredible diving stop to keep Shelby Miller’s no-hit bid intact. Goose will be out for 6-8 weeks. Adonis Garcia replaces Gosselin on the 25-man roster. Please stay healthy Alberto Callaspo! If not, John Hart might have to call up Rio Ruiz from AA Mississippi if anything else should happen to Atlanta Braves third basemen.
It’s almost comical now. I can relate to the Arizona Cardinals QB situation last year. They were a fantastic football team until Carson Palmer got hurt and so did Drew Stanton. Ryan Lindley nearly got benched in favor of rookie Logan Thomas. It’s that whole notion of when it rains, it pours I guess. Seriously, the Braves are going through third basemen like Spinal Tap went through drummers. No bizzare gardening accidents, please.
A silver lining to this all is that Atlanta’s offense has been light years better than what we had to suffer through in 2014. The Braves have won the NL East with black holes in the lineup before. But the next man up mentality is how Fredi Gonzalez has to approach this injury situation until Chris Johnson returns hopefully sooner than later. I hope Callaspo, Garcia, and Pedro Ciriaco succeed at the hot corner these next several weeks. Otherwise, the Atlanta Braves might find themselves dead last in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) coming from their third basemen. Chipper Jones can still hit, right?