The injury-plagued Atlanta Braves have signed Gio Urshela one day after losing star third baseman Austin Riley for the rest of the regular season.
The Braves announced Tuesday that they signed Urshela to a major-league contract and placed Riley on the 10-day injured list.
Riley will miss six to eight weeks after an MRI revealed Monday that the two-time All-Star has a broken hand.
Urshela, 32, was released Sunday by the Tigers after clearing outright waivers. The nine-year veteran appeared in 92 games this season for Detroit, batting .243 with five home runs and 37 RBIs.
The Braves hope Urshela will help fill the void created by the injury to Riley, who was hit on his right hand by a pitch during Sunday’s victory over the Angels.
The Braves (66-58) entered Tuesday with a 1.5-game lead over the Mets for the last wild-card spot in the National League. Atlanta hosts the first-place Phillies (73-51) on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series and the first of seven contests between the NL East rivals over the next 13 days.
Atlanta has won six straight division titles, but that streak is in jeopardy after a rash of injuries.
The Braves already lost NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. and pitching ace Spencer Strider to season-ending injuries, while several other key players, including three-time All-Star second baseman Ozzie Albies, two-time All-Star left-hander Max Fried, center fielder Michael Harris II, catcher Sean Murphy and reliever A.J. Minter have missed major time.
Minter was placed on the 60-day IL in a corresponding roster move Tuesday.
The Braves don’t have many viable options in their organization to replace Riley at third base. Luke Williams, who is just 2-for-17 on the season, took over Sunday at third base after Riley was injured but hardly seems like a full-time option. The Braves also could move Whit Merrifield, currently filling in at second base for Albies, over to third and give another shot to top prospect Nacho Alvarez.
Alvarez, however, was just 3-for-30 as the first choice to replace Albies, leading the Braves to return him to Triple-A Gwinnett.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
