Philadelphia Phillies' Rival Atlanta Braves Dealt Another Injury Blow

There was another injury in the NL East division that could open things up for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Jul 25, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies (1) / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into Wednesday's slate, the Philadelphia Phillies sit two games out of first place in the NL East division.

They trail a team they have developed a heated rivalry with in the Atlanta Braves after being dominated by them in the regular season, but eliminating them in the playoffs two straight years.

It's been since 2011 that the Phillies won their division, something they were hoping to do in 2024 by getting off to a much better start than they have in the past.

Based on how the offense has been thus far, it would be a stretch to say they've accomplished that goal.

Yet, they are still sitting with a 10-8 record, only trailing the Braves by two games. All things considered, that is a major positive when factoring in how little runs they've scored and how poor their star players have performed.

Philadelphia also got another piece of news that should help them out in the NL East race.

After the Braves had to put their ace Spencer Strider on the season-ending injured list, they have now added another key player to the IL after Ozzie Albies fractured his toe.

This injury occurred after he was hit by a pitch during Monday's contest against the Houston Astros. He finished out the game, a positive sign, but will now miss time after X-rays showed the fracture.

Atlanta placed him on the 10-day injured list, suggesting that he could return to action sooner rather than later.

For the Phillies, they certainly aren't rooting for injuries, but things happen in baseball where players get hurt. Just look at what they went throught last year during the early portion of the season when Rhys Hoskins tore his ACL and Bryce Harper was recovering from Tommy John surgery.

It will be interesting to see if Philadelphia will be able to take advantage of this situation like the Braves have done in the past.

The Phillies will go for a much-needed sweep of the Colorado Rockies before getting a day off and starting a three-game series with the lowly Chicago White Sox on Friday.