The Braves have been hit -- hard -- by injuries in 2026. And it’s turning them toward extreme measures just to get through nine innings.
For the first time in an MLB game since Aug. 21, 2017, Atlanta star Matt Olson did not take the field at first base. He galloped to right field for the ninth inning of a 7-5 loss to the Giants. He did not have a defensive chance among the game’s final three outs.
The Braves, already with Ronald Acuña Jr. (hamstring) on the IL, were also down Michael Harris II due to back tightness that forced him to leave Tuesday’s game. Then, manager Walt Weiss exhausted his bench trying to get back into the game Wednesday.
Weiss pinch-hit four times, including with Rowdy Tellez for Ha-Seong Kim in a key spot in the eighth.
“I figured that was going to be my last shot to get Rowdy an at-bat against a righty, because a lefty had gotten up and was starting to get loose,” Weiss said. “So I pulled the trigger right there.”
The problem was, Kim had already moved to shortstop after Dom Smith hit for starting shortstop Jorge Mateo. Thus, with Tellez exclusively a first baseman, starting center fielder Mauricio Dubón had to move into the infield at short, with left fielder Eli White covering center and right fielder Mike Yastrzemski shifting to left.
Weiss said he also contemplated moving Olson to third base -- his high school position -- with Austin Riley at short, but they settled on Olson in the outfield.
“I think it's better to keep him away from the action (by having him) in right field,” Weiss said. “Look, he's a great athlete. I knew he’d handle himself.”
The shuffling didn’t necessarily hurt the Braves, as the Giants pushed across two runs in the ninth but did so on the back of two singles and a sacrifice bunt. A three-run rally for Atlanta in the home half wasn’t enough.
“We're missing a couple pieces, but we kind of dealt with that most of the year,” Weiss said. “We've won a lot of games, but nothing is coming easy for us right now.”
The Braves -- who remain atop the NL East and still hold MLB’s third-best record -- are starting to feel the effects of a long string of bad injury luck, going 1-6 over their past seven. On top of Acuña and Harris, Atlanta was already missing starter Spencer Strider, reliever Tyler Kinley and catcher Sean Murphy, among several others from the 40-man roster.
Olson had experimented with time in the outfield as an Athletics Minor Leaguer before establishing himself as one of the game’s premier first basemen. He made 16 appearances out there for the A’s across 2016 and 2017, but he then took on exclusive first-base duties thereafter … until Wednesday.
Of course, we can’t blame him; Olson has been a three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glover as a first sacker. But when we’ve become so accustomed to seeing Olson at that spot or DH every day (literally), Wednesday’s emergency change was an eye-opener.