Injured Braves Players Could be Delayed Because of Lockout

With Major League Baseball likely headed towards a lockout, the Atlanta Braves have several key players recovering from injury that could be impacted. 

A lockout seems inevitable at this point with MLB and the players not getting along at all. There will be tons of fallout and setbacks because of a lockout, but one thing that could really hurt the Atlanta Braves is the lack of treatment for their star players who are injured.

While we’re all thinking about how will affect signing players and trades, not many stop to think about what it means for rehabilitating players.

That is, until Charlie Morton’s recent interview with David O’Brien of The Athletic (subscription required) was released.

I can’t give away many specifics because of the paywall, but essentially Morton talked about how if the lockout happens players won’t be able to work out at team facilities with team personnel.

It will basically be up to the players to continue doing their rehab on their own or with medical professionals they trust. But it can’t be with any Braves employee.

That’s pretty significant when the Braves have such key players rehabbing like Morton, Ronald Acuna Jr., and Mike Soroka.

Morton went on to say it probably won’t impact him as much at it will the other two who have been working out and rehabbing a lot with the Braves training staff at the Braves complex.

I’m sure many of you have seen the Instagram photos of Acuna’s rehab, which appears to be going great.

But once the lockout comes, how will that continue?

These guys are professionals and I’m sure they can find other physical therapists and strength trainers to continue their rehab. But will it be better? Worse?

One thing is for sure, the Braves won’t really know. And once the lockout ends they’ll have to reevaluate the player to see where they are and what’s happened.

It’s kind of like reading a book but you skip 10 chapters in the middle of it. You’re missing a lot of key details on how they got where they are.

It could potentially delay a return to the field for these guys, and that’s just another of the many disappointments we’re likely to see as fallout from CBA negotiations this winter.