As the Atlanta Braves try to claw their way into a playoff position, they’ll be without Justin Upton for the time being.
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported the 27-year-old outfielder has suffered a bruised triceps. The team listed Upton as day-to-day:
Upton is one of the position players the Braves can least afford to lose at the moment. Going into Tuesday night’s game, he was second on the team in batting average (.286), second in on-base percentage (.358) and first in slugging (.516). His 26 home runs and 91 runs batted in also lead the team.
According to Baseball-Reference.com, Upton also has Atlanta’s second-highest WAR (4.2).
As Ace of MLB Stats illustrated, Upton has really started to turn it on over the last few months:
As a team, Atlanta ranks 29th in runs scored, 23rd in batting average and 25th in slugging percentage. The Braves don’t have a lot to lean on offensively in Upton’s absence.
Before taking on the Philadelphia Phillies, the Braves sat seven games back in the National League East and 1.5 games back in the wild-card race. Closing either of those gaps will be nearly impossible as long as Upton is out.
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