Braves: Did Brian Snitker let Mets off the hook for hitting Ronald Acuña?

Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker wasn’t interested in taking many questions on the Mets intent when they hit Ronald Acuña with a pitch.

Ronald Acuña could very well be fine. We should know more this afternoon, though the initial prognosis is day-to-day with a shoulder injury. The star outfielder hit a deep home run in an earlier contest against these same Mets, and was drilled with a pitch in the second half of the doubleheader.

It’s tough to call that entirely circumstantial, but opponents to have a tendency to go inside on Acuña to try and push him off the plate. The Mets are not alone in their approach, and unfortunately plunked the All-Star right in his shoulder, which looked rough in the moment.

There was little response from the Atlanta bench in the moment. An Acuña HBP is nothing new to this group, but that one got him right in the shoulder blades. When asked about Acuña’s health after the game, Snitker didn’t want to go into much detail when prompted.

How should Braves respond to Ronald Acuña HBP?

Now, had Acuña’s MRI not been a positive one, perhaps Snitker would have something to say to Atlanta’s longtime rival. But it’s early May, and the Braves must know not to rile up their high-priced opponents at the wrong time.

The teams split their doubleheader on Monday, and Atlanta still holds a three-game NL East lead.

Acuña entered Monday hitting .352/.440/.546 with a 166 wRC+. He’s an early-season NL MVP candidate and, should he stay healthy, ought to remain in that conversation throughout the season. Nonetheless, Acuña has missed significant time to injury in the past. It’s why Atlanta is so cautious with him.

Hopefully, a misplaced fastball isn’t enough to land Acuña back on the injured list soon.