Latest Ronald Acuña Jr. injury update is not exactly promising

Ronald Acuña Jr. arrived to the Atlanta Braves clubhouse while riding on a medical scooter.

In case you needed about on how Atlanta Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is doing the day after he fouled ball of his left foot, he showed up to work on Sunday afternoon on a medical scooter.

Lost in all the drama of Atlanta’s 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in primetime on Saturday night, Acuña was pulled from the game in the ninth inning in favor of Guillermo Heredia. While Heredia often enters games in the final frame as a defensive replacement in the outfield, it is almost never for Acuña, who took off his cleat on the Atlanta bench as the swelling continued.

This is the moment when Acuña first hurt his left foot. It happened in the bottom of the third inning. While Acuña played through most of the rest of the game, he was unable to finish it.

When the Braves sent out this tweet of its starting lineup for Sunday’s series finale with the Dodgers, it became very apparent that Acuña’s foot injury was a bit more serious than expected.

While there is “no fracture, no protective boot or crutches” on his injured left foot, it remains to be seen if Acuña will have to go on IL. Atlanta is fortunate to have a scheduled day off on Monday before the division rival Philadelphia Phillies come to town on Tuesday evening.

Ronald Acuña Jr. could potentially go on IL again after injuring his left foot

Let’s be real. This injury could have been so much worse. He could have broken his leg like Ozzie Albies did in the batter’s box earlier this month. What are the odds of two star players on the same team going on the 60-day IL with the same freak injury? It is not like Acuña has had a clean bill of health over the last year or so either. Nobody blames him here, but this is just the way it is, guys.

What this really comes down to is if the swelling can subside and Acuña can put pressure on his foot, he could be penciled back into the lineup sooner rather than later. The Braves are fortunate that the DH is now universal, which could in theory hasten his return to the lineup. While one would expect the Braves to proceed with caution, they are a better team when he is in the lineup.

With Acuña absolutely not playing at all over the next two days, that might be enough time to see if he can give it a go on Tuesday evening vs. Philadelphia. If he needs an additional day of rest after that, then a Wednesday return is not too shabby. However, if he misses the next several days for Atlanta, it probably serves the Braves to put him on IL so he can try to get back to 100 percent.

It is tough luck that Acuña injured himself in this manner, but at least he did not break anything.