Today's Three Things: Braves Win Nationals Series Opener, but Lose Ozzie Albies

Atlanta's second baseman broke his left hamate bone and is presumably done for the year

The Atlanta Braves took down the Washington Nationals 11-5 in Truist Park on Monday night, their fifth consecutive win versus the club in their last five meetings.

Here’s Today’s Three Things from the contest.

The Turning Point

Atlanta entered the bottom of the third with a narrow 2-1 lead, having had multiple opportunities against MacKenzie Gore that they couldn’t quite cash in.

They took care of business in the third, knocking Gore out of the game before he even recorded an out. Ronald Acuña Jr. led off with a walk before Ozzie Albies singled, prompting Gore to be lifted at 71 pitches. Jackson Rutledge immediately walked Ha-Seong Kim to load the bases before Drake Baldwin drove in two with a single to right, the first of three consecutive hits (and three runs) for Atlanta. A bases-loaded walk brought in the fifth run of the inning for the Braves before the final out was, mercifully, recorded by Washington.

Today’s Player of the Game

This goes to Michael Harris.

Money Mike was, well, money in this one. He picked up three hits, including his 25th double of the year, and drove in three runs while scoring once. He put himself in position to score more, stealing three bases, but wasn’t always getting driven in by the top of the order.

It was a rough night for several of the top-of-the-lineup stars, with Matt Olson earning the dreaded Golden Sombrero as part of his 0-6, four-strikeout outing, and Jurickson Profar managing just one hit (although he did walk twice). The bottom of the lineup, featuring Drake Baldwin, Marcell Ozuna, and Nacho Alvarez Jr., combined with Harris to produce nine hits, including two doubles, with five runs scored and seven RBI.

What You’ll Be Talking About

The injury to Ozzie Albies.

Ozzie left tonight’s game after an awkward 2-0 swing that had him immediately wincing and reaching for his wrist.

The diagnosis released by the team was a broken left hamate bone, an injury that will undoubtedly end his season. Going from the quick conversation I had with a doctor (not Ozzie’s and not a sports orthopedist, just to clarify), this is likely a six-to-eight-week injury, and there’s zero reason to think Albies will not be 100% full-go for spring training next February.

But as we’ve discussed before, just because a player is back on the field doesn’t mean they’re 100%. Look at the early-season power production (or lack thereof) of Albies, who hit just .220/.290/.316 after last season’s broken wrist.

It’s still likely that Atlanta exercises Ozzie’s $7M club option for 2025, as the buyout is $4M and the difference here, $3M, won’t get you anything of value on the free agent market. But it’s clear that even if they bring back Albies, the Braves need to have some sort of backup plan at second base if Ozzie’s not back to himself early next season. It’s likely that the Braves request more second base reps for Nacho Alvarez in the Arizona Fall League, just to prepare him for possible at-bats in place of Ozzie next year.

Looking for more discussion about this game?

Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the win.

What’s Next for the Braves?

The Braves have another rematch from last week’s series in Nationals Park, with Hurston Waldrep (5-1, 3.04) getting the ball against Brad Lord (5-8, 4.18) at 7:15 PM ET.