Brian Snitker's plan to replace Ronald Acuña Jr. leaves room for a surprise or two

The worst fear of Atlanta Braves fans became reality on Sunday when reigning NL MVP winner Ronald Acuña Jr. tore his ACL. That injury will sideline him for the remainder of the season.

Yes, Acuña hadn't gotten off to the best of starts after his historic 2023 campaign, but he's still a player that is irreplaceable. His combination of power and speed is unlike any player we've ever seen.

As irreplaceable as Acuña might be, Braves manager Brian Snitker is attempting to find a way to keep his team on the winning path. That means finding a way to move on without Acuña. He revealed at least part of his plan to go about replacing Acuña for now.

Braves manager leaves room for future surprises when it comes to replacing Ronald Acuña Jr.

For now, Snitker says that their outfield alignment will include Jarred Kelenic, Michael Harris II, and Adam Duvall just about every day. Kelenic and Duvall had been platooning, but now both players will be in the lineup on a daily basis. JP Martinez is with the team as their fourth outfielder, but it sounds as if he'll rarely see the field.

“Right now, it’s going to be pretty consistent,” Snitker said. “It’s what you see. That’s who we got.”

The key words in that quote are right now. For now, it'll be Kelenic, Harris, and Duvall, but that doesn't mean that'll be the alignment for the rest of the season. While it's unlikely that Atlanta gives a player like Martinez or even Forrest Wall regular reps in the outfield, they could look for an upgrade at the trade deadline. Snitker is committed to Duvall and Kelenic getting regular playing time for now, but that doesn't mean that'll be the case for the remainder of the season.

Not only do the Braves have to replace Acuña in the field, but they have to do the same in the leadoff spot of their lineup. Acuña hit first every single day, so that's another difficult thing for Snitker to figure out. Again, he left that answer a bit open-ended.

“It’s a day-to-day thing,” Snitker said. “I like [Albies] against the lefty, and I may stay with him [there]. I don’t know. We’ll see how everyone else is going and what it looks like on a daily basis.”

Ozzie Albies led off Monday's game against the Washington Nationals who were starting left-hander Mitchell Parker. Albies had hit second in every game he appeared in this season but has led off in the past. With how good he is against left-handed pitching, it makes sense to stick him at the top facing southpaws, but it sounds like Snitker has no idea who he'll go to against righties. It could be Albies, it could be someone else.

From what Snitker had to say, it sounds as if that decision will be based on how everyone is performing and what the lineup does on a daily basis. If a certain player is swinging a hot bat, he might get a chance to lead off. If a certain lineup leads to runs, Snitker might stick with that for a while. Snitker is in the very beginning of experimenting with life without Acuña.