The Braves and pitcher Kyle Wright talked about how long he might be sidelined with his right shoulder strain. Of course, this will depend on how the strain heals, which is why Wright said they didn’t set a specific timetable.
That said, he was candid about the big picture.
“It’ll be a little bit, unfortunately,” Wright said. “We’re gonna give it at least enough time to fully recover, fully heal and kind of reevaluate. But the good thing is, at least at this stage, it’s nothing surgical, it should heal on its own. But unfortunately you have to give it time to heal on its own. It’ll be longer than I would’ve liked, but hopefully I’ll be back sooner than later.”
The Braves and Wright are exercising extra caution because this is a reoccurring issue. In January, Wright received a cortisone injection in his shoulder to facilitate healing. It got rid of the inflammation, and he said his shoulder felt the best it had since 2020.
Wright didn’t receive another cortisone injection. “I think it’s good, but I think we got to be careful with kind of going overboard with the cortisone shots,” he said. Instead, he tried something else.
Wright said he underwent amniotic stem-cell therapy. It’s thought that amniotic stem cells stimulate healing in a safe and effective way. Wright felt comfortable that there wouldn’t be any risk, but that this treatment would help.
“Try that, and see if that can help it heal a little bit quicker,” Wright said.
Wright expects to be sidelined longer than fellow starter Max Fried, who is on the injured list with a left forearm strain. (This could change if Fried were to have a setback.) For now, Wright is shut down from throwing. He’ll wait until he feels better, and eventually he’ll begin building up again.
He’s still a key part of the Braves’ rotation. The Braves will need him. For now, they have withstood all of the injuries.
“We got a good team, a lot of depth,” Wright said. “You never want to get hurt, but it’s good to know that we got guys to kind of fill the holes and we keep winning. Hopefully, we can keep it up, and it can kind of give us more time to get right.”
Wright left his last start early because of shoulder discomfort. He wanted to continue pitching, as any competitor would, but pitching coach Rick Kranitz overruled him.
Luetge soon out on rehab assignment
A few days ago, Lucas Luetge threw a bullpen session. He completed another Tuesday.
He expects to go to High-A Rome on Friday for live batting practice. (The Rome Braves will be at home, so this makes sense logistically.) If all goes well, Luetge thinks he would have two days off, meaning that he might begin a rehab assignment May 17 (the minor leagues are off on Mondays). Both Rome and Gwinnett are on the road, so the location of his rehab assignment is to be determined.
Since the middle of April, Luetge has been on the injured list with left bicep inflammation. He hopes to be back sometime during the Braves’ next homestand, which begins May 19.
“Once they let me start playing catch, I haven’t felt anything since then,” Luetge said. “That whole rest period, they kept asking me how I feel. I’m like, ‘Well, I haven’t thrown. I won’t know until I throw.’”
Luetge, a competitor, wanted to throw earlier than the team allowed him to do so.
“As a player, you always want to,” he said. “But they’re the experts in that field, I’m the expert in this field. We kind of had to work with each other. I feel like any training staff always has to hold a player back. Or at least they should hope so – nobody should want to just sit there. I respect their thoughts, I voiced my opinion and we talked about it, and go from there.”
Luetge hopes his time on the injured list is nearing its end.
“This was definitely a longer stint than I thought it would be, but I’m a longer reliever, so the buildup is a little bit longer than a one-inning guy,” he said.
TBD on Sunday
Spencer Strider will start Friday in Toronto. Bryce Elder will start Saturday.
The Braves haven’t announced a starting pitcher for Sunday. Charlie Morton would be lined up to start that day, but manager Brian Snitker said the club probably will give Morton an extra day, as it did before his last start.
So stay tuned on that.
