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Jason Heyward Injury: Who Will Step Up For The Injured Right Fielder?

Jason Heyward will get an MRI on his injured shoulder in the coming days, but baseball is an every day type of thing, so the Braves will have to find a replacement in the mean time, and potentially longer if they discover something seriously wrong. Out Braves blog Talking Chop is, understandably, a little bit bummed about the news, but they are also curious about who the Braves will use to replace Jason Heyward in right field.

The Braves will need to get creative if Heyward is forced to miss an extended amount of time. Eric Hinske filled in for Heyward after leaving tonight's game, but he would be a huge defensive liability if he had to play right field with any regularity. The same would go for Joe Mather. Martin Prado could possibly move over, but that's unlikely with him finally getting settled into left field. The only outfielder in the Minor Leagues who could possibly handle starting on a daily basis would be Jordan Schafer, but it is unknown if the Braves feel he's ready to make his return to the Major Leagues.

No matter who they bring in, they won't be getting as much production from that spot as Jason Heyward would give them. That's for sure. But if they can at least hold down the fort there until Heyward gets back, then they will be in pretty good shape, relatively speaking.

Photographs by coka_koehler used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.