Eli White collided face-first with Dodger Stadium’s right-field wall on Sunday to make a crucial catch in the Atlanta Braves’ 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
However, White paid a price for showing little regard for his personal safety and was placed on the 7-day injured list for concussion protocol, the Braves announced on Monday.
White’s catch arguably saved the win for the Braves, who held a 4-0 lead in the sixth inning when Bryce Elder walked Freddie Freeman, Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker to load the bases with two outs. Robert Suárez took over for Elder to face Max Muncy, battling the Dodgers’ third baseman to a three-balls, two-strikes count.
Suárez then left a 99 mph fastball in the high middle of the strike zone, which Muncy drove deep to right field. The ball wasn’t going over the fence for a home run, but likely would have hit the wall if not for White tracking it down. That would have scored at least two runs for the Dodgers, if not cleared the bases.
Instead, White ended the inning and left Muncy at first base, holding his arms up, wondering how that drive didn’t land for a hit.
“Who do I gotta pay off at this point?” Muncy said he was thinking when speaking to reporters after the game.
White stayed in the game to bat in the seventh inning, striking out in three pitches against Dodgers reliever Justin Wrobleski. And he returned to right field during the bottom of the frame, catching a fly ball by Dalton Rushing.
However, Mike Yastrzemski took over for White in the eighth inning. And Muncy got another chance to drive in a run when Tucker drew a two-out walk. With Braves reliever Tyler Finley hanging a slider in the middle of the zone, Muncy made sure to hit a long fly ball that an outfielder wouldn’t catch, getting his 10th homer of the season.
“Next at-bat, I said I'm going to swing straight up,” Muncy said. “If I hit it in the air, they can’t catch it and it kinda worked.”
To fill in for White (.237/.258/.390 slash average) on the Braves’ major-league roster, infielder Ha-Seong Kim was activated from the injured list. Kim, 30, hasn’t yet played this season while recovering from a torn tendon in his right middle finger suffered during the offseason.
Last year, after being claimed off waivers by Atlanta, Kim batted .253/.316/.368 with three home runs and 12 RBI. He is expected to be the Braves’ starting shortstop beginning with Tuesday’s matchup versus the Chicago Cubs.
