House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves Freddie Freeman Out Because Of A Finger Injury

By Jeff Schafer

Aug 21, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) sits in the dugout against the Washington Nationals during the seventh inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 21, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) sits in the dugout against the Washington Nationals during the seventh inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Braves Freeman Out With Injured Finger

After the Atlanta Braves published the starting lineup for Sunday afternoon’s game, many questioned the huge shakeup.  We saw Freddie Freeman and Ender Inciarte out of the lineup, Dansby Swanson moving to the leadoff spot, Jace Peterson playing center field which he’s never done in the majors, and Nick Markakis at first base.

The theories of why Freeman was sitting, for only the second game of the 2016 season, was because he just needed a day of rest.  Well, after the game we found out he needed more than just rest.

For a full recap of Sunday’s game, see Alan’s recap here.  If you weren’t able to catch the game, Peterson had a heck of an afternoon.  In the 3rd inning, a ball was hit over his head that he tracked down to make an outstanding catch, but then face-planted straight into the wall.  He stayed down for a few minutes, but eventually jogged off the field and stayed in the game.  Then, in the bottom of the 10th inning he hit a walk-off homer.

Though the Braves won the ball game in the end, a couple of instances stood out to me while watching the game.

1st occurrence – in the bottom of the 6th inning, the Braves were down 6-4 with two outs and a Peterson on base.  With the pitchers spot up, Brian Snitker decided to go with Chase d’Arnuad.  Freeman wasn’t walking warming up and didn’t even get off the bench.  I questioned it at first, but then thought ‘well it’s still kinda early, maybe they are saving him for later in the game.’

2nd occurrence – in the bottom of the 8th inning, the Braves just tied the game 6-6 and Anthony Recker on third base with two outs.  With the pitcher spot up again, Snitker went with Inciarte to pitch-hit.  Hmm, okay why not Freeman, but okay let’s go Inciarte.  He gets intentionally walked and Dansby Swanson grounds out later.  All right, no big deal because he was intentionally walked.  Their saving him for a big spot to win this game!

More from Tomahawk Take

3rd occurrence – in the bottom of the 10th inning, with the game still tied, the Nationals had right-handed pitcher Shawn Kelly on the mound.  Jeff Francoeur was leading off the inning and was 1-4 on the day (0-3 against left-handed pitchers and 1-1 against right-handers).  Frenchy is batting .227 against righties in 2016 and has a .253 career batting average against righties.

Snit left Frenchy in and he popped out on the first pitch he saw to first base.  Freeman was never in the on deck circle, got up, nothing.  Interesting.

After the game, AJC’s Michael Cunningham did some digging following the 7-6 victory on Sunday.

The real reason Freddie missed Sunday’s game was because he had a painkiller injection in his middle finger on his throwing hand after Saturday night’s game.  And it didn’t just pop up, this has bothered him for a while now.

“It’s been hurting since spring training,” Freeman told AJC’s Cunningham.  “I’ve been grinding it out.  I got a shot during the All-Star game as well.  It just kind of finally wore off.  It’s pretty painful every single day.  It got to the point I was swinging the bat before the game and it kind of blew up on me again.”

If you look at the photo above, you’ll see Freddie’s middle finger on his right hand.  Does it look swollen to you?  I think it does.

“It’s been a battle all year and it hurts, but I’ve been able to fight through it,” Freeman said after the game.  “It doesn’t affect too much, a couple swings here and there every day.  But yesterday it got to the point where I couldn’t even grip the bat anymore.”

Next: Braves Call Up Gant, Send Jenkins To Gwinnett

The painkiller injection shot requires about a 48-hour recovery period so it’s possible we see Freeman in the lineup against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.  The Braves travel to Chase Field to start a four-game series on Monday.

Hopefully our superstar is back in the lineup and it’s something he can continue to play through because right now, more people are watching the Braves than they have all season.

Home/Braves News