Braves get great injury news on Ronald Acuña after scary HBP

Just a day after he was drilled with a pitch by the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña is back in the starting lineup.

Ronald Acuña is a tremendous talent, but he has been forced to miss far too much time due to injury the past few seasons. None of that is Acuña’s fault, but when he went down after getting plunked on the shoulder against the rival Mets on Monday, fans were worried for good reason.

Acuña underwent imaging on his shoulder, and thankfully everything came back clear. The right fielder was initially expected to miss a few days at the very least but is instead back in the lineup for Tuesday night’s game.

One could make the argument that rushing Acuña back is risky in nature, but if the Braves training staff has cleared him, there’s no reason to keep him out longer than necessary.

Will Ronald Acuña play tonight? Braves injury update

After the game, Atlanta catcher Sean Murphy admitted that the team didn’t think Tylor Megill intended to hit Acuña. Nonetheless, some retaliation may be in order should the Braves star get plunked again.

“In that spot, [Megill] was trying to go up and in,” Murphy said. “You wouldn’t throw at a guy 0-2 in that moment. But it still sucks. It gets guys riled up.”

If there is a spot to pitch Acuña, it’s up and in due to his stance, like most hitters. This is why the slugger is a frequent target of inside pitches, and fastballs in on the hands. That approach comes with some risk for both the hitter and opposing pitcher, and it’s one the Braves would prefer to protect against.

Snitker said the team removed Acuña in the first place as a precaution. Thankfully, he seems fine.