Three Cuts: With Markakis out, will Braves stay in-house or look to trade deadline to fill the void?

The shopping list for the Braves ahead of the deadline seemed clear, but that was before a key injury went and added a wrinkle to all that.

There is hope that Dansby Swanson will return form his heel injury once he’s eligible Aug. 2, but Atlanta is expecting to be without Nick Markakis for an extended period of time.

The veteran outfielder is likely out 6-8 weeks, which would have Markakis returning in the middle of September, and while a blow, it comes with a time sensitive silver lining: it happened before the July 31 deadline and not after it. Nonetheless, it may well change the focus from bullpen and potentially starting pitching to whether Alex Anthopoulos will look to bring in another outfielder.

The Braves’ lauded depth does give them plenty to work with. The return of Adam Duvall — who followed up his record-setting turn in Triple-A by homering in a three-hit first game, equalling the amount of hits he had all of last September, and has four hits in all in two games — along with Charlie Culbeson, Ender Inciarte, Austin Riley and Matt Joyce are all in-house options.

There are questions with that group, though, mainly with Duvall, who had a minus-6 OPS+ in limited playing time in a Braves uniform last season; Riley, whose hot start has been dampened with a 23 wRC+ in July and Inciarte has hit above league average in three of the last 11 full months he’s played in the majors.

Mixing and matching along with Ronald Acuña Jr. as the center piece can provide potential, but will Alex Anthopoulos, Brian Snitker and Co. prefer stability? Markakis, who has never bee on the injured list since joining the Braves, has played in no fewer than 156 games since coming to Atlanta in 2015.

There are everyday pieces available, with right-handed rentals like the Tigers’ Nicholas Castellanos and Reds’ Yasiel Puig or Diamondbacks’ David Peralta, with the lefty hitting arbitration for the third time this winter. But if Markakis is expected to return, will the Braves actually be looking to add a consistent starter or just another option to supplement their depth?

Pitching needs remain, but this has to be the storyline to watch for the Braves as we head toward Wednesday’s deadline.

Mark J. Rebilas Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports