Brian also said that Michael is “day-to-day,” as The Athletic reporter David O’Brien tweeted on Thursday night. Players listed as day-to-day — or “DTD” for short — are managing an injury that’s not severe enough for them to make the injured list, and they remain on a team’s active roster, according to Baseball Training World.

CBS Sports speculated that Michael will return later in the weekend series against San Diego, assuming his back tightness isn’t a more serious problem. The Braves will face off against the Padres on Friday, April 7, again on Saturday, April 8, and one more time on Sunday, April 9.

That said, back tightness was also to blame when Michael was scratched from the Braves’ March 24 spring-training game against the Boston Red Sox. Sam Hilliard took his spot that time, too, as MLB.com reporter Mark Bowman tweeted at the time. Michael returned to the starting lineup one day later in the Braves’ game against the Minnesota Twins.

Before Thursday’s game, Michael spoke enthusiastically about playing in his first home opener. “It’s my first one here, and it’s really special because I grew up a Braves fan, going to a lot of these games,” he told reporters in the locker room, per 11Alive News. “So to have my first home opener here, it’s really special.”

And in a recent interview with GQ Sports, the Georgia native reflected on his role-model status. “I know there’s a lot of kids who want to be in the position that I am now, so putting on the jersey every day I guess can be motivation for them,” he said. “I hope it gives them that extra push to know that they can potentially do the same things I did.”