Injury updates on Austin Riley, Pierce Johnson

It’s eerily similar to the way Sean Murphy left the game on Opening Day, and he’s still yet to return after being diagnosed with an oblique strain. However, Braves manager Brian Snitker is much more optimistic about Riley than he was with Murphy.

“I’m hoping he plays [Monday], I don’t know if he will,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said, via Mark Bowman of MLB.com. “We’ll know once we get back [to Atlanta] and they see him and test him and all of that. We’ll know [Monday].”

When Murphy went down with an oblique strain, he was immediately placed on the IL later that night, and Snitker’s tune suggested he would be out for quite some time. He was right about Murphy, and hopefully, he’s right about Riley, who has started to pick things up offensively since the calendar turned to May.

Mark Bowman also shed some positive light on Braves reliever Pierce Johnson over the weekend. He was placed on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation, which will always raise some eyebrows. However, no MRI was needed, and it looks like this was all about giving Johnson some precautionary rest early in the season. Bowman reports that Johnson is already throwing bullpens, so it’s reasonable to expect he will be activated when eligible later this week.