After an atrocious 0-7 start to the season, the Atlanta Braves have turned things around. Although they will have an uphill battle to climb back to the top of the NL East, the Braves have won eight of their last 10 games.
While things were going well on the field, there was still some drama off the field involving superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. who is still working his way back from injury.
A week ago, Braves outfielder Jarred Kelenic was thrown out at second base after not hustling because he thought he had hit a homer. Brian Snitker decided not to bench Kelenic for his lack of hustle and downplayed the severity of the situation in interviews. Acuña did not take too kindly to his manager's actions and claimed on X that if it had been him not hustling, he would have been benched. With Acuña close to a return and Kelenic struggling, Atlanta made an interesting roster move this week and it seemed to quiet the noise surrounding this whole situation.
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Ronald Acuña Jr. goes silent after Jarred Kelenic’s demotion by Braves
Once the Braves were faced with the unfortunate suspension of Jurickson Profar, Jarred Kelenic was given the opportunity to play every day. After Kelenic started the year with a .167 average and two home runs while playing mediocre defense, the Braves decided to option him back to Triple-A Gwinnett and reunite with former playoff hero, Eddie Rosario.
This move seems logical given the circumstances of Kelenic’s performance. Additionally, Acuña Jr. gets closer to returning each passing day and he will obviously be reinstated to the starting lineup immediately in right field. After Kelenic’s demotion, there have been nothing but crickets from Acuña.
Demoting Kelenic makes sense when you break down the build of this Atlanta Braves roster, especially with Eli White playing as great as he is. However, you can’t help but wonder if Acuña’s complaints about the handling of the Kelenic situation pulled some strings to send the 25-year-old back to the minors.
With the Braves playing so well right now, it is not really the best look for Acuña to be as quiet as he is. Siding with Jeff Francoeur, it would be nice to see Acuña sending positive energy his teammates' way and celebrating their success as loud as he criticizes decision-making.
The superstar outfielder is expected to be in a big league uniform again within the next few weeks if everything goes according to planned. It will be interesting to see if his return gives Atlanta that extra spark or actually disrupts the camaraderie this team has built over the last few weeks.