Ronald Acuña Jr. injury could force Braves to ignore one trade deadline need

A change of direction in Pittsburgh resulted in a swift change of plans for the Atlanta Braves. With Ronald Acuña Jr. tearing his ACL on the base paths at PNC Park, it means that Atlanta not only lost the reigning NL MVP for the season, but will have to address outfield depth almost immediately. Atlanta was built to offset this kind of an injury, but only temporarily. They will have to adjust on the fly.

In Mark Bowman's latest for MLB.com, he outlined what the Braves have in their farm system and if there is help on the way coming up from the minor leagues. We just saw Spencer Schwellenbach make his MLB debut last week and have seen AJ Smith-Shawver pitch at the big-league level before. While Smith-Shawver is on the mend with an oblique strain, we may see Hurston Waldrep in due time.

So what does this all mean? Well, if the Braves did not have to address outfield concerns due to Acuña's injury, they could have used one of the pitchers in question as a trade piece to offset losing Spencer Strider for the year in the rotation. Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez's brilliance have been godsends to a team that is struggling mightily offensively right now. Atlanta can't afford to solve both.

For now, general manager Alex Anthopoulos must be careful with what assets he needs to give up in a blockbuster trade or two. Replacing Strider and now Acuña is going to be tough sledding for him.

Alex Anthopoulos has tough decisions to make entering trade deadline

For the time being, Atlanta is fine in both the outfield and in the starting rotation. The Braves will now start Adam Duvall, Michael Harris II and Jarred Kelenic in the outfield. It is safe to say that the Duvall/Kelenic platoon in left field is officially over. Atlanta still needs a fifth starter, but Sale and Lopez have been more than good enough to share the spotlight with Max Fried and Charlie Morton.

Truth be told, one of the aforementioned pitchers could be the solution to the Strider problem. Since Atlanta has had longer to figure this one out, it may not be all that pressing, as it is with Acuña. While most other teams would be hopelessly desperate in that situation, Atlanta has enough talent with its every day players to sort of offset it in the aggregate. Of course, there is only one Acuña in baseball...

Overall, I think Atlanta is more inclined to get another outfielder than another starting pitcher at the deadline for two reasons. One, they have the depth in the minor league system to maybe have a shot at fixing the Strider problem. And two, Atlanta needs a spark offensively in the worst way possible. Remember how cooked they were heading into the 2021 All-Star Game when Acuña tore his ACL?

I expect for Anthopoulos to make at least one big move, but I am not so sure that two are in the cards.