As the Atlanta Braves continue to drop down the National League East Division standings, injuries continue to take a heavy toll on a team that has had and is still having trouble keeping its head above water.

Johan Camargo, the rookie starting shortstop for the Braves, was helped off the field after tripping over himself while running onto the field before the Atlanta Braves game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Sun Trust Park.

In a freak accident, Camargo was jogging onto the field before the first pitch when he bent down to grab a handful of dirt in front of the first-base line and ended up locking his right knee into place, causing him to fall over and double in pain.

Eventually, he was unable to put any sort of weight on his right leg and was promptly carried off the field by assistant trainer Jim Lovell and third base coach Ron Washington.

Jace Peterson immediately replaced Camargo in the starting lineup and went 1-4 in the game. The Braves ended up losing 5-2 on Odubel Herrera’s 12th homer of the season off of a struggling Julio Teheran, which sparked a three-run fifth inning and provided more than enough insurance for the Phillies in the long run.

This dropped the Braves to 51-60 on the season, leaving them 15 games behind the Washington Nationals for 1st place in the NL East as of August 8th.

The Braves initially reported that Camargo had hyperextended his right knee, but later tweeted out that he had been diagnosed with a right knee bone bruise, and that he had been placed on the DL.

Shining spot in the lineup

Before the injury, Camargo had been one of the few shining spots in the Braves lineup. Having won the starting shortstop job in the middle of July from Dansby Swanson, the 1st pick of the 2015 MLB draft, Camargo had been batting .292 with 54 hits, 3 home runs and 19 RBI’s in 185 at bats, proving that he could be more than a serviceable shortstop for the Braves in the future.

Camargo is considered by many to be one of the top prospects in the Braves organization. Signed as a free agent out of Panama in 2010, he had risen up the ranks because of his versatility and speed. Along with Swanson, outfielder Ronald Acuna, and second baseman Ozzie Albies, these four players are considered to be the core of the Braves team in the future.

The Braves are currently in a rebuilding period, which makes this injury all the more dismal for a player like Camargo who is looking to gain more experience at the MLB level in order to prove himself to the Braves management and fans.

What does this mean for the Braves' future?

The implications of Camargo’s injury may seem subtle at first, but upon further inspection, the injury has the potential to shift the landscape and the direction of the Braves organization.

After Camargo’s injury, Dansby Swanson was pulled from the Gwinnett Braves (the Triple-A affiliate of the Braves) game in the third inning, suggesting he could be called back up to the MLB team and could be given an opportunity to win his starting position back in the majors. Swansby had been struggling to keep up with MLB pitching, and was sent down to Triple-A in order to re-adjust his approach at the plate and his swing.

At the very least, it is quite realistic that there will be a timeshare between Swanson and Camargo (when he returns from his injury) at the shortstop position, at least until one of the players can prove to be capable enough to acquire the starting job. Until then, Braves fans can only wonder when Camargo will come back to show off some of the potential that the Braves squad has for the future.
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