Chipper Jones Out For The Season, But Braves Hold Steady
- Thursday, August 12, 2010 3:39 PM
- Written By: AccuScore
Another sparking acrobatic play Tuesday night turned out horribly wrong for Chipper Jones. Even though he recorded the out in a scoreless tie, Jones suffered a torn ACL that will knock him out for the rest of the season. After bringing up retirement earlier this year you have to wonder whether or not this is the end of his career.
Before the injury, Jones had been on a tear with a triple slash line of .400/.471/.833 in the month of August with 3 home runs. As of Wednesday night Atlanta held a 2.5 game lead over the Phillies and was projected to maintain that lead according to AccuScore projections.
NL EAST (Before Injury) |
WINS |
DIV |
PLAYOFF |
Atlanta Braves |
92.4 |
67.7% |
80.4% |
Philadelphia Phillies |
90.1 |
31.3% |
54.3% |
GAP |
2.3 |
36.4% |
26.1% |
While losing a veteran leader like Jones is a blow, Atlanta has the depth to absorb the loss on the field. Brooks Conrad will most likely fill in at third base for now while Omar Infante could slide in at the corner when Martin Prado returns from the DL. Conrad has hit for some pop with a .808 OPS in 101 at-bats while Infante made the All-Star team and is currently hitting .330. Because of this the forecast for the NL East remains virtually unchanged even without Jones in projections with the Phillies only 0.4% more likely to win the division.
NL EAST (After Injury) |
WINS |
DIV |
PLAYOFF |
Atlanta Braves |
92.4 |
67.6% |
80.4% |
Philadelphia Phillies |
90.1 |
31.7% |
54.3% |
GAP |
2.3 |
35.9% |
26.1% |
This projection could of course change if the Braves were to suffer another injury, Infante and Conrad do not perform in expanded roles, or if Prado doesn’t return as expected. But the Phillies are also dealing with their own injury issues with a tenuous situation at first with Ryan Howard out and Ross Gload possibly headed to the disabled list himself.
