Braves 2B makes speedy recovery from fractured toe

The Braves announced they’ve reinstated Ozzie Albies from the 10-day injured list. The star second baseman is expected to return to the lineup for Friday’s game. It’s a rather remarkable recovery for a player who spent just the 10-day minimum on the injured list after suffering a fractured big toe when a pitch hit him on April 15. Albies returns to the club without a rehab assignment, though he took batting practice throughout the week.

Whether there’ll be any lingering effects remains to be seen, but Albies has gotten out to an excellent start in 2024. Through 15 games and 70 trips to the plate, he’s slashing .317/.386/.492 with a pair of homers, a pair of steals and just a 12.9% strikeout rate. If the foot injury doesn’t provide any more problems for him, he’s laid the foundation for an excellent follow-up effort to a career year at the plate in 2023, which saw Albies pop a personal-best 33 home runs and bat .280/.336/.513 in 660 plate appearances.

Atlanta won’t need to make any corresponding moves to get Albies back onto the roster. The Braves announced Thursday that infielder David Fletcher passed through waivers unclaimed and had been assigned outright to Triple-A Gwinnett. He’d been on the big league roster, which paved the way for Albies’ reinstatement.

In 787 games since debuting with the Braves as a 20-year-old in 2017, Albies is a .273/.326/.479 hitter with 133 home runs and 78 stolen bases. The three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner is in the sixth season of a seven-year, $35M contract extension he signed in April 2019. He’s earning $7M this year and next, and the Braves hold a pair of $7M club options on him for the 2026-27 campaigns.