Austin Riley, Pierce Johnson Not Ready to Return for Braves

The Atlanta Braves are without both their starting third baseman and one of their key setup men

Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley is missing his fourth consecutive start tonight with the irritation in his left side. / John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves are expecting some major contributors to return from injury for this series against the San Diego Padres. 

Just not tonight. 

The Braves put out tonight’s lineup and roster for the series opener versus San Diego and there were two notable omissions - Austin Riley and Pierce Johnson. 

Riley, Atlanta’s starting third baseman, left Monday night’s game versus the New York Mets with “left side tightness” that first cropped up during batting practice in New York and became more prominent after a 3rd-inning strikeout, prompting his removal from the game. After waking up sore on Monday morning, Riley received an MRI that revealed irritation but no significant oblique injury. The decision was made to not put him on the injured list but rather to hold him from play for a few days, with newly-acquired Zack Short taking his place at third base. The thought was that a few days of rest combined with Thursday’s off day would allow Riley to return to play as soon as tonight. 

Short remains in the lineup for tonight’s series opener, however, with manager Brian Snitker saying that Riley wasn’t yet ready to be in the lineup.

Another player that will not return when expected is reliever Pierce Johnson. Initially going to the injured list on May 4th with elbow inflammation, the curveball specialist reported feeling “much better” earlier this week and was able to throw live batting practice to Zack Short and Chadwick Tromp on Wednesday. Given the positive report, Pierce himself expressed the thought that he might be able to return today, the first day he was eligible to be activated off of the injured list. 

Snitker explained that by waiting one more day from his live batting practice before being activated, Johnson could throw in back-to-back days this weekend. 

Given the challenge of Atlanta’s upcoming schedule - seventeen games in seventeen days - and the trend of giving their starters additional rest this season, it’s possible that Atlanta uses an additional day to build in some extra rest for a starter prior to Johnson’s activation. #5 starter Bryce Elder is lined up for Saturday night, but Atlanta could either push him back a day or choose to call up a prospect the day after Elder pitches, then replace that spot starter with Johnson to get the bullpen back to full strength. 

The logistics of this would entail whichever reliever is being sent down for Johnson - likely Ray Kerr, who still has minor league options - instead being replaced for one day with a minor league starter who would pitch in Atlanta instead of Triple-A Gwinnett. AJ Smith-Shawver is the announced starter for Gwinnett on Saturday and Dylan Sodd is slated for Sunday; both pitchers have major league experience and could be used by Atlanta to build in additional rest for Reynaldo López and Chris Sale. Both pitchers have gotten additional rest for most of their starts - López hasn’t pitched on standard rest (four days) all season, getting either five or six days prior to all but one outing (and seven days for the other), while Sale has pitched on regular rest only once, getting either five or six before all other starts.