Top Braves shortstop prospect Ozzie Albies has a fractured thumb that will sideline him for the last month of the season at low Single-A Rome.
The undersized 18-year-old phenom hit .310 with eight triples, a .368 on-base percentage and 29 stolen bases (37 atttempts) in 98 games at Rome before the injury last week, which the Braves indicated wasn’t a complete fracture. Braves president of baseball operations John Hart said the recovery period was about three weeks, but with only four weeks left in the minor league season the Braves didn’t want to rush him back.
Hart said Albies would be ready for the Braves’ instructional league in October. Albies has risen quickly to the top of the Braves’ position-player prospect list, and was the youngest and smallest (about 150 pounds and generously listed at 5 feet 9) player selected for the Futures Game played at Cincinatti last month as part of the major league All-Star festivities.
“He’s had a great year,” Hart said. “He’s played every day, he’s shown us what kind of kid he is. Very exciting young player. Very, very exciting. So, you hate to (the injury) happen, but I think this is a really nice player that can fit in a lot of different places.”
Asked if that meant second base or shortstop, Hart smiled and said, “You can play this guy anywhere. He’s that kind of guy. Got great feet.”
