BREAKING: Braves put Collin McHugh on IL, recall Jared Shuster from Gwinnett

The fortunate timing of the veteran hurler's injury means Jared Shuster can come up to fill Friday's vacant starting spot

The Atlanta Braves were in a conundrum. 

Brian Snitker had not named a starter for this Friday's game two versus the Padres - when asked earlier in the week, he mentioned wanting to get through the end of the Cardinals series and the home opener on Thursday before addressing it. 

Additionally, there didn't seem to be many avenues to lining up a prospect for the start - Bryce Elder was already called up from Gwinnett to start on Wednesday, while Ian Anderson's on the IL and Michael Soroka (while having a promising start on Tuesday) isn't quite ready and would be on short rest. 

Fortunately, a solution presented itself. 

Veteran Collin McHugh, 35, has made three appearances on the season for the Braves, throwing 3.2 innings with four hits, one run, and three walks to two strikeouts. After his one inning of work against St. Louis on Wednesday, he's apparently dealing with some "shoulder inflammation" and needed a short IL stint to get healthy. 

The #Braves today recalled LHP Jared Shuster to Atlanta and placed RHP Collin McHugh on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 6, 2023

The timing is very fortunate for Atlanta - with Jared Shuster being optioned to AAA Gwinnett after his Sunday start against the Nationals, he wasn't eligible to return to the major league roster for ten days. 

Unless, that is, there was an injury and he was replacing the injured player. 

McHugh's sudden shoulder issue gives the Braves the ability to swap Shuster and McHugh on the roster, putting the prospect lefty Shuster back on the 26-man roster and in line to start on Friday night in what would have been his scheduled turn through the rotation. 

As of now, it's expected that Shuster will make his 2nd start of the year underneath the lights at Truist Park on Friday night versus Padres righty Nick Martinez. Game time is at 7:20 ET and is only available on Apple TV+. 

Let's hope Collin McHugh's IL stint sees him get back to fully healthy and that his sore shoulder gets itself fixed quickly. 

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