Last season, the Atlanta Braves found themselves one win away from the World Series before blowing a 3-1 NLCS lead to the Dodgers. And since then, 2021 has not been kind to the Braves.
Atlanta has dealt with uncharacteristically slow starts from reliable hitters like Freddie Freeman, Marcell Ozuna, Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson. On top of that, ace pitcher Mike Soroka has faced setbacks in his recovery from an Achilles tear.
One of the few bright spots for the Braves — other than Ronald Acuña Jr. — has been the breakout pitching and hitting from 22-year-old starter Huascar Ynoa.
Well, all it took was for one poor showing to ruin that for the Braves.
Ynoa broke his right hand when he punched the dugout after exiting yesterday's start. He'll miss at least a couple months
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 17, 2021
On Monday, the Braves announced that Ynoa would miss a couple months after he sustained a broken hand when he punched a dugout bench out of frustration in Sunday’s 10-9 loss to Milwaukee. Ynoa had been pulled from the game after allowing five runs to the Brewers, but you never want to see a pitcher put his throwing hand at risk by punching, well, anything.
Huascar Ynoa broke a bone in his pitching hand when he punched the dugout bench in frustration after coming out of Sunday's game. He will be out a couple of months, #Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "It's a shame," Snitker said. "Probably nobody that feels any worse than him."
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) May 17, 2021
Ynoa wouldn’t be the first pitcher to suffer such an injury, and he probably won’t be the last.
You just hate to see that happen because he really was having a fantastic start to the season.
