Things might be going very well for the Atlanta Braves on the field but their bad luck with injuries is apparently going to just stick around. In the middle of the series in Philadelphia, Raisel Iglesias ended up being unavailable for a game because he slept badly on his shoulder overnight.
All appeared to be well after Iglesias ended up closing out the sweep on Sunday but apparently his shoulder started acting up on him again on Monday and it’s bad enough to where he’ll have to take a trip to the IL with right shoulder inflammation.
Needless to say, I think we’ve all had our fill of these bizarre trips to the IL for Braves players over the course of the past two years. Their primary shortstop is still recovering from having slipped on ice during the offseason and now they’ll be losing their primary high-leverage reliever because he slept funny one night. Is it relatable? As a 37-year-old, sure! Is it fun to see? Absolutely not!
Anyways, Dylan Dodd will be taking Iglesias’ place for the time being. This’ll be Dodd’s second stint with the Braves this season after his most recent cup of coffee saw him pitch three scoreless innings against the Guardians on April 12. Iglesias, meanwhile, has 8.2 scoreless innings under his belt so far this season with five hits, one walk and 11 strikeouts to his name. The Braves are going to miss him while he’s gone.
Fortunately, the depth in the bullpen has been shored up to the point where they can actually afford to take a hit here. Robert Suarez has also been lights out so far and he will now be taking on closing duties while Iglesias is out. Losing the closer means that everybody’s responsibility has bumped up a bit but moving Suarez into that spot is about as much of a lateral move as you can get.
Either way, here’s hoping that Iglesias didn’t sleep his way into a long stint on the IL and that we’ll see him again in two weeks. It’s frustrating but that’s just the type of injury luck that the Braves have had in recent years. We’ll see what happens.