Adam Duvall will miss the rest of the postseason after suffering an oblique strain on Monday
The Atlanta Braves run to their first World Series title in 25 years will have to take place without Adam Duvall.
The Braves officially ruled Duvall out for the remainder of the season on Tuesday, removing him from the NLCS roster with an oblique strain. The move makes him ineligible to return for the World Series should the Braves advance. In his place, the Braves added infielder Johan Camargo.
Duvall left Game 1 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday in the middle of his at-bat in the top of the second inning. After fouling off a 1-1 sinker from Walker Buehler, Duvall immediately grimaced and grabbed his side before heading back to the clubhouse with Braves trainers.
Manager Brian Snitker knew the injury looked severe and said following the game he wasn’t expecting any good news. “I don’t expect the outcome will be good. He popped that thing pretty good…I hate it for him with the year he’s had and the work he’s put into it,” he said, according to MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato.
The former All-Star outfielder was a key part of the powerful Braves lineup that has led the club to their first NLCS appearance in 19 years. Duvall led the Majors with 11 home runs in September, including two three-homer games seven days apart, the first National League player to do so in more than 80 years.
Braves options to replace Adam Duvall in the lineup
The Braves have some options to take his place. The Braves used a starting outfielder on Monday of Duvall in left, Ronald Acuna in center, and Nick Markakis in right. Austin Riley, the hero of Game 1 who started at third base, can move to left, where he started 58 games in 2019 but only four this season, none since Aug. 15. That would allow Camargo or Pablo Sandoval, a former World Series MVP who only joined the Braves a month ago after being released by the Giants, to play third base.
The other option is to rely on 21-year-old rookie Cristian Pache. He took over from Duvall on Monday, drawing a walk in his first at-bat. He finished the game 0-1 with two walks in three plate appearances, his first of the postseason.
Pache is the Braves No. 1 prospect and the youngest player in this series. He made his MLB debut only on Aug. 21 and appeared in just two games in the regular season. He came on as a defensive replacement for Markakis in right field in all three games of the NLDS but didn’t get an at-bat in that series. He’s considered a defensive specialist, a player who could win multiple Gold Gloves in his career.
None of these options is going to fully replace Duvall’s production. But it’s the situation the Braves find themselves in as they stand three games away from the World Series.
Game 2 of the NLDS begins at 6:05 ET at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.