By his own standards, third baseman Chipper Jones isn’t having a great year statistically, but losing him for any significant amount of time would deal a blow to the Braves’ lineup. We won’t learn the official diagnosis of Chipper’s injured knee until Thursday, and for now, Talking Chop is wondering how the Braves will fare if they have to play without him.
If Chipper Jones’ Knee Injury Keeps Him Out, How Will The Braves Adjust?
This raises some unfortunate questions. The first being, 'who would play third base?' This injury happened at a time when the most likely candidate, Martin Prado, is also on the disabled list, and not available until Monday. Brooks Conrad, who filled in and won the game for the Braves, is the candidate by default. This will certainly consume what's left of our reserve middle infielders, and force more inexperienced players into bench roles, greatly weakening the Braves bench -- which was a strength of the team.
If Chipper is out for any extended period of time, the Braves would have to think about making a trade for a starting infielder.
After a slow start to the 2010 season, Jones has rebounded, having hit .288 with an OPS of .879 since July 1. At this point in the season, his OPS+ of 118 matches the number he posted in 2009.
For more on Chipper, head over to our Braves blog, Talking Chop.
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