Braves starter lifted from outing with shoulder issue, expected for IL

Atlanta Braves right-hander Kyle Wright departed Wednesday night’s game after throwing just 55 pitches in two-plus innings, with the club later announcing his ailment as right shoulder soreness. Manager Brian Snitker later told reporters, including David O’Brien of The Athletic, that Wright will go on the 15-day injured list.

While the severity of Wright’s injury is not clear, it is noteworthy that this has been an ongoing issue. He earlier dealt with shoulder soreness during spring training, which put him behind schedule and forced him to start the season on the injured list. He eventually was activated and made five starts -- including Wednesday's -- but will now return to the IL to figure out what’s going on with his shoulder.

Even if Wright's injury ultimately ends up being a minor issue, the club will need to proceed without him for the next couple of weeks at least. Wright saw brief stints in the majors in each year from 2018-21 before finally breaking out last summer, when he posted a 3.19 ERA in 180 1/3 innings. His 23.6 percent strikeout rate was right around league average, but his 55.6 percent ground ball rate was quite strong.

The rotation should still be in decent shape, even without Wright’s contributions. Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Max Fried are well established, while Bryce Elder looks to be running with his early opportunities, posting a 1.75 ERA through six starts.

Even before the injury to Wright, the club was planning to give a spot start to Dylan Dodd, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That was to allow everyone an extra day of rest after they played a double-header earlier this week. Dodd could potentially stick around after that, though. He made two starts earlier this season, allowing just one earned run in the first but seven in the second. He has a 4.91 ERA in three Triple-A starts on the year. If Dodd is not kept around for the next few weeks, the club has Michael Soroka and Jared Shuster as options on the 40-man roster.

Atlanta received another scare on Wednesday when outfielder Michael Harris II departed with an apparent knee injury.  The news there is a bit more pleasant than with Wright, as Snitker is not currently planning on puting him on the injured list. He will be reevaluated on Thursday. Harris been struggling this year, but in a small sample of just 38 plate appearances due to his having spent about three weeks on the IL with a back strain. Last year, Harris hit 19 home runs, slashed .297/.339/.514, stole 20 bases and provided excellent center field defense en route to winning National League Rookie of the Year honors.