Atlanta Journal-Constitution Braves beat reporter Justin Toscano spoke with pitcher Kyle Wright as he works his way back from a right shoulder strain suffered in May.
The entire story, and other items of interest, can be found in the Braves Dispatch, the Friday edition of the AJC’s Braves newsletter. It’s free. To sign up for the Braves Report newsletter, go to https://www.ajc.com/newsletters/subscribe-atlanta-braves/. Just enter your email address and you are done.
Here is an excerpt of the full story:
Kyle Wright’s injury forced him to make adjustments. And these changes could help him stay healthy and reach his potential in the future, which is one way he’s made peace with how this season has gone.
“It sucks getting hurt,” Wright told the AJC this week in the home clubhouse at Truist Park. “But a lot of people have done a really good job of helping me get here. I’m pretty proud of myself for actually kind of taking this thing by the reins a little bit, and trying to ask for help and figure out how we can get this right. We identified a ton of inefficiencies that I had in my delivery, and that was ultimately contributing to the shoulder (pain). I think I was able to kind of get away with it for so long. One, I’m a pretty good athlete, I’m pretty strong. When you pitch in the minor leagues, you usually have more days off, it’s less stress. Last year was my first full year (in the majors). You’re posting pretty consistently every fifth day, it’s much higher stress. So I think it just kind of finally caught up to me.
“I think it’s kind of been an issue for a while, but you just kind of find a way to make do and I think it was just time that we had to kind of attack this head on. I think for this year, it’s still not gonna be great, but it’s definitely better. But I think it’s really important that we’ve been able to do as much as we have so far. Hopefully finish this season strong and then I’ll have a full offseason to really just kind of continue to attack it, hopefully improve my health long-term and for the rest of my career.”
Wright’s tweaks have centered on taking the stress off his shoulder and putting it elsewhere. The thought is this: If his shoulder isn’t doing as much work, he will be healthier and more effective. He said he’s been a bit inconsistent using these changes in his rehab starts, but that he’s noticing that everything is feeling better when he pitches.
Wright has made three minor-league rehab starts. The plan, at that point, is for him to make at least another rehab start. But he also said this of the big-league club: “Whenever they need me, I’ll be ready or I’ll figure out a way to be ready.”
