With 3B Austin Riley out for 6–8 weeks due to a broken hand, the Braves suffer yet another serious setback.

Austin Riley, a third baseman with the Atlanta Braves, broke his right hand and will be out for the majority of the regular season.

ATLANTA (AP) — After fracturing his right hand on Monday, third baseman Austin Riley will miss at least the remainder of the regular season, dealing a serious blow to the already injured Atlanta Braves.

In the first inning of Atlanta’s 3-1 victory on Sunday, Los Angeles Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz hit Riley with a fastball that clocked at 97 mph.The fracture was confirmed by an MRI. Riley will be out for six to eight weeks, which means he won’t be back for the Braves’ regular season or, if they make it, the playoffs.

Prior to starting a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies, who are now leading the NL East, on Tuesday, Atlanta had a two-game advantage over the New York Mets for the last wild-card berth.

The Braves are seven games behind the Phillies in the standings after a slew of injuries put the team’s six-game winning run in peril. Atlanta has a two-game advantage over the New York Mets for the final berth in the wild card position, which appears to be the most likely route to a seventh consecutive postseason appearance.Pitching ace Spencer Strider and NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. have already left Atlanta due to season-ending injuries. Center fielder Michael Harris II, catcher Sean Murphy, and second baseman Ozzie Albies are among the other important players who have lost a significant amount of time.

With 110 games played, Riley has 19 home runs and 56 RBIs. This is his second major setback. In May, he sat with a strained muscle near his rib cage for two weeks.

There’s a large vacuum in the Braves lineup now that he’s dealing with a much more serious condition. They don’t have many good choices in their organization to cover the vacuum left by the trade deadline having passed.Riley’s season prior saw 37 home runs. With Atlanta since his major league debut in 2019, he has 153 home runs.

After Riley was hurt on Sunday, Luke Williams—who is only 2 of 17 for the season—took over at third base, but he doesn’t seem like a full-time option. The Braves might shift Whit Merrifield, who is now platooning at second base for Albies, to third base to give top prospect Nacho Alvarez another opportunity. However, Alvarez was only 3 for 30 in his first appearance as Albies’ replacement, which caused the Braves to send him back to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Reynaldo López has been brought back from his rehab assignment to start the series opener against the Phillies, which is good news for the organization in terms of injuries.The right-hander last pitched on July 28 against the Mets. He is 7-4 with a 2.06 ERA and was selected for the All-Star Game for the first time. After three innings, he was lifted and placed on the injured list due to irritation in his forearm.

In order to create place for López, the Braves optioned reliever Jimmy Herget to Triple-A.