The Atlanta Braves have officially activated RHP Kyle Wright from the 60-Day Injured List with the intention of starting him in this evening's game in Philadelphia, per sources.
Wright, 27, was MLB's wins leader for 2022 with 21 victories, but 2023 hasn't been nearly as kind. He missed the start of spring training and opened the season on the injured list with a sore shoulder that's bothered him literally all year - he got a cortisone injection in January to relieve inflammation.
He made five mostly ineffective starts (0-1, 5.79 ERA in 18.2 innings) before going directly to the 60-Day Injured List in early May and being shut down from throwing for more than two months. Getting back to throwing in late July and beginning to face hitters in August at the spring training complex in North Port, Wright's made three rehab starts so far in his return.
Wright's most recent AAA Gwinnett start was on September 5th, against the Worcester Red Sox, where he went 3.2 scoreless innings with one hit and two walks, striking out seven in 50 pitches.
Manager Brian Snitker indicated to the media on Sunday that Wright was an option for today and that he'd be limited to no more than 65-70 pitches. The quote to the media was that Wright would be asked to "just get the plane off the ground" and nothing more. It's entirely possible that the Braves use a lefty opener in front of him - Wright gave up almost 100 points more of slugging to lefties than righties, and Philadelphia has two lefties (Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper) in their first three batters.
The corresponding move to get Wright back on the 40-man roster was to move reliever Daysbel Hernández to the 60-Day Injured List, while Wright's 28-man roster spot came from optioning Dylan Lee to AAA Gwinnett after today's game one.
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