Braves star Acuña to return Friday from left knee injury
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Braves star Acuña to return Friday from left knee injury
The 2023 NL MVP tore the ACL in his left knee last May. He played six games in the minors, going 6 for 15 with two home runs. Acuña has 165 homers and 195 stolen bases in 722 career games.
The Braves announced after Thursday night’s loss to Washington that Acuña will return from a left knee injury that has sidelined him for nearly a year when Atlanta opens a three-game series at home against San Diego.
The 2023 NL MVP tore the ACL in his left knee last May 26 and had surgery on June 6. Acuña played six games in the minors on a rehab assignment, going 6 for 15 with two home runs.
Acuña played in only 49 games last season, batting .250 with four homers, 15 RBIs, 16 stolen bases and a .716 OPS.
He was a unanimous winner of the NL MVP award in 2023 when he hit .336 with 41 home runs, 106 RBIs and a league-leading 1.012 OPS. Acuña also stole 73 bases that year to become the only player with 40 homers and 70 steals in one season.
A four-time All-Star, the 27-year-old Acuña has 165 homers and 195 stolen bases in 722 career games.
Field Level Media – Professional sports content solutions | FLM
The 2023 National League MVP tore the ACL in his left knee on May 26, 2024. The activation will come three days prior to the anniversary of the injury. Acuna was 6-for-15 with two homers and two RBIs in six rehab games. He homered for the Braves’ Florida Complex League team in his first game on May 13 and spent the rest of his stint playing for Gwinnett. The 27-year-old has batted .289 with a .379 on-base percentage, .525 slugging percentage, 165 homers, 417 RBIs and 196 steals in 722 games over seven seasons.
The 2023 National League MVP tore the ACL in his left knee on May 26, 2024. The activation will come three days prior to the anniversary of the injury.
“Ronald will be coming off (Friday),” Braves manager Brian Snitker said after an 8-7, 10-inning road loss against the Washington Nationals on Thursday night. “We talked after I talked to you guys (pregame) and decided rather than him playing a game (Thursday night) in Louisville and taking (Friday) off, he could take today off and come play with us (Friday). That’ll be good. He feels ready so that’s great. It will be great to get him back in the lineup.”
After Snitker began his postgame press conference, Acuna posted the following on social media: “Vamos a divertirnos.”
Translation: “Let’s have fun.”
After Acuna was a healthy scratch from Triple-A Gwinnett’s lineup on Thursday night, word began to circulate that he would make his return to the majors on Friday.
Acuna, 27, played the entire game in right field for Gwinnett on Wednesday and informed Snitker that the knee was feeling great.
“It’ll be sooner than later now,” Snitker told reporters of Acuna’s return prior to Thursday’s contest.
Acuna was 6-for-15 with two homers and two RBIs in six rehab games. He homered for the Braves’ Florida Complex League team in his first game on May 13 and spent the rest of his stint playing for Gwinnett.
Acuna hurt the knee last season while taking a large lead off second base against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He underwent surgery on June 6.
Acuna batted .250 with four homers, 15 RBIs and 16 steals in 49 games last season prior to the injury.
In 2023, Acuna was the unanimous MVP as he belted 41 homers and stole a major-league-best 73 bases to post the first 40-70 season in MLB history. He batted .337 and led the majors with 149 runs, 217 hits and a .416 on-base percentage.
His historic campaign came two years after he sustained a torn right ACL on July 10, 2021, and missed the rest of that season.
Since making his major-league debut in 2018 at 20 years of age, Acuna has batted .289 with a .379 on-base percentage, .525 slugging percentage, 165 homers, 417 RBIs and 196 steals in 722 games over seven seasons. He’s a four-time All-Star.
–Field Level Media
Braves’ Acuña to make season debut Friday
Ronald Acuña Jr. will make his season debut against the San Diego Padres. The 2023 NL MVP has been out since tearing the ACL in his left knee on May 26, 2024. The Braves had scheduled a seventh rehab game for him on Thursday, but scratched him before first pitch. He went 6-for-15 with two homers, four extra-base hits, and seven walks over his six-game rehab stint. He also played a full nine innings in right field for the first time this year.
The Atlanta Braves plan to activate their star outfielder from the injured list Friday, paving the way for Acuña to make his season debut against the San Diego Padres at Truist Park.
Acuña hasn’t played in the majors since tearing the ACL in his left knee on May 26, 2024. It was the second time he required ACL reconstruction surgery, having previously torn the ligament in his right knee in 2021.
After a nearly yearlong rehab, the 2023 NL MVP finally returned to game action last week, making minor-league rehab appearances in the Florida Complex League and with Triple-A Gwinnett. Acuña went 6-for-15 with two homers, four extra-base hits, and seven walks over his six-game rehab stint.
In his final rehab outing on Wednesday, Acuña went 1-for-4 with a walk and played a full nine innings in right field for the first time this year. The Braves had scheduled a seventh rehab game for Acuña on Thursday, but with his return to the majors imminent, they scratched him from Gwinnett’s lineup shortly before first pitch.
“It’ll be good, he feels ready, and that’s great,” manager Brian Snitker said, according to Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’ll be great to get him back in the lineup.”
In his most recent full campaign, Acuña ran away with NL MVP honors after producing just the fifth (to that date) 40-homer, 40-steal season, and first-ever 40-70 campaign. He also hit .337/.416/.596 and led the majors in hits (217), runs (149), steals, and OBP.
The Braves have sorely missed his electric bat atop their lineup. Atlanta’s leadoff hitters own a .603 OPS through 49 games in 2025, a figure that ranks last in the NL and 28th overall.
“We know how electric that guy is,” first baseman Matt Olson told Burns. “MVP-caliber player. To get his energy back, and lead off the game with No. 13, it’s going to be exciting.”
Thursday’s loss to the Washington Nationals dropped the Braves to 24-25 on the season. Although they’ve recovered somewhat from a disastrous 0-7 start, Snitker’s club enters play Friday sitting 7.5 games behind the first-place Phillies and 3.5 games out of a playoff spot.
Braves expected to activate Ronald Acuña Jr. for Friday’s game against Padres
Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. is expected to be activated from the injured list. It’ll be three days shy of the one-year anniversary of a torn left ACL that required season-ending surgery. He told Atlanta manager Brian Snitker that he felt great after playing all nine innings in right field for Gwinnett on Wednesday. In six rehab games, he went 6-for-15 with two doubles, two home runs, seven walks and two strikeouts.
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Acuña was scratched from the lineup for Triple-A Gwinnett’s game Thursday night at Louisville, a strong indication that the Braves planned to activate him. He told Atlanta manager Brian Snitker that he felt great after playing all nine innings in right field for Gwinnett on Wednesday, Acuña’s first full rehab game in the outfield.
A standup double (just shy of leaving the park) for the former MVP, Ronald Acuña Jr.😤 pic.twitter.com/Iz6hijoUi8 — Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) May 21, 2025
In six rehab games — one in the Florida Complex rookie league, five in Triple A — Acuña went 6-for-15 (.400) with two doubles, two home runs, seven walks and two strikeouts, for a .591 OBP and .933 slugging percentage.
Acuña, the 2023 NL MVP, tore his right ACL in July 2021 and returned to the lineup after 9 1/2 months. The Braves have been more conservative with each step of his rehab this time, in hopes that Acuña can avoid the residual soreness and inflammation that slowed him throughout the 2022 season after he returned a little sooner than they originally planned from the previous knee surgery and rehab.
They have stuck to the initial rehab plan throughout the process this time, with Acuña agreeing to let the doctors and trainers decide when he was ready to take each next step.
(Photo: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
Source: https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/braves-star-acuna-to-return-friday-from-left-knee-injury