Ronald Acuña Jr. is all but confirmed to be making his 2025 debut with the Altanta Braves this weekend in a series with the San Diego Padres. This comes after Spencer Strider made his return to the rotation earlier this week. As the Braves get arguably their two biggest stars back into the fold, they sit at 24-24 and 6.5 games behind the Phillies. However, Hall-of-Famer Chipper Jones believes that the gap between the top of the NL East and Atlanta isn't enough to hold off the Braves forthcoming surge.
Obviously, even being 24-24 at this point is somewhat impressive from the Braves. While it hasn't been without some headaches, Atlanta recovered from an appalling 0-7 start to the year and have gone 24-17 since. Now, they're getting two absolutely crucial pieces back into the fold with a Cy Young candidate and an MVP winner. So it's not hard to understand where Chipper is coming from.
During an appearance on 680 The Fan in Atlanta, the Braves legend made it clear that, with Acuña returning and Strider back in the rotation now, he believes that the rest of the division didn't take advantage of this team being short-handed and that the Braves are going to make them pay for it.
"I think they're going to take off, I really do. I think they're going to take off. [Ronald Acuña Jr.] has been the catalyst of that offense ever since he got here. You throw into the mix, [Spencer] Strider's coming back. Everybody in the [NL] East had a chance to bury us. They had that chance to bury us. We're five games out, we're not even to Memorial Day yet. So, I think they're about ready to go on a pretty good run, given the fact that those two forces stay healthy for the rest of the summer, I think they can make up five games no problem."
There's plenty of evidence for Jones' case here, not the least of which was the 2022 season.
Chipper Jones is ready for Braves to 'take off' with Acuña's return
Back in the 2022 season, the New York Mets held a 10.5-game lead in the NL East and everyone declared the division for them. That turned out to be quite premature as the Braves got scorching hot in the second half of the season, kicking their World Series hangover from early in the year, and chasing down the Mets. They ended up with equal 101-61 records but Atlanta took the division with the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Obviously, it's not a guarantee that will be the case for the Braves this year, but Jones' point about Acuña being the catalyst for the offense is infinitely true. While it might be hard to expect him to be his MVP-level self right away, the returns in Triple-A Gwinnett suggest that it might come sooner rather than later. In 15 at-bats with the Stripers, he's slashing .400/.591/1.524 with two home runs and seven runs scored.
Strider's return on Tuesday, meanwhile, did leave a bit to be desired. He gave up three runs in the first inning and four total earned runs over just 4.1 innings of work in making his way back. That's to be expected, though, and the hopes for the mustachioed flamethrower remain quite high as he ramps back up to a full pitch-load.
When you add two stars like that when Matt Olson is getting hot, Drake Baldwin is on a tear, Austin Riley and Marecell Ozuna are playing well and there is still talent like Michael Harris II and/or Ozzie Albies who could still catch fire, it's not hard to be optimistic about the Braves.
There's no question that Chipper Jones is right to some degree: The Braves are going to make a run when they get their full lineup back. Whether or not he's right about them overtaking the rest of the division, however, is what's going to be the most fascinating aspect of his prediction to monitor.