Ronald Acuña Jr. injury update is what Braves fans needed to hear before Opening Day

Ronald Acuña Jr. may not play in a game for a month, but that is not the end of the world, mostly because those games are of the spring training variety and don't actually matter. What does is for the Atlanta Braves to have their all-world right fielder ready to rock come Opening Day. Acuña has not played since hurting his knee at the very end of February. The expectation is that he will be alright.

After traveling to Los Angeles to have his knee looked at by his doctor, Acuña did not suffer any major damage to his meniscus. With enough rest and recovery the reigning NL MVP should be good to go vs. the Philadelphia Phillies on March 28 for Opening Day. While the Braves won the NL East for the sixth year in a row last season, it was those pesky Phillies who eliminated them from the postseason.

Braves manager Brian Snitker relayed Acuña's progress when speaking to Gabe Burns of the AJC.

“He’s progressing, doing everything they want him to do. When (trainer) George (Poulis) tells me, I’ll put him in there (the lineup). They’ll tell me when Ronald (is ready). They have it mapped out and everything. Whenever George gives me the OK, I’ll put him in that top spot again and let him go.”

Let's discuss what the first month of the season needs to look like for Acuña in the Atlanta outfield.

Ronald Acuña Jr. injury update is what Atlanta Braves fans want to hear

Since the knee injury, Acuña has still taken part in baseball activities, such as taking live batting practice. He remains in great spirits, citing that it doesn't feel like anything happened to his knee. Holding him out for the better part of spring training is merely precautionary. Losing your best player for the season in a game that doesn't count is about as bad as it gets. The Braves do not want that.

As far as what I would like to see out of Acuña for the first month of the season, I hope he can play more often than not. It is more important that he gets to hit as often as he can. This isn't about stealing a ton of bases, but rather having his big bat in the lineup. If he were to alternate between playing right field and DHing, that could work. Maybe it is two on and then one off, so to speak?

Overall, you don't want to see Acuña reaggravate his knee in the early part of the year. Baseball is a marathon and not a sprint. Simply because he has been dealing with knee injuries throughout his career, I highly doubt he is going to play all 162 games this season. If Snitker can find spots to give him some rest, then I think Braves Country would be totally okay with that. Atlanta needs La Bestia.

With Opening Day a little more than two weeks out, don't count on Acuña playing much beforehand.