Atlanta Braves fans should not expect to see Ronald Acuña Jr. playing at an NL MVP level immediately upon returning to the every day lineup. He has been on the injured list for nearly a year now. Memorial Day is coming up. It was the last time Acuña played for the team in a game that counted. He has torn his ACL twice in the last four years with a record-setting season in between.
After Atlanta taking Game 1 of their home series vs. the division rival Washington Nationals, Braves manager Brian Snitker spoke to the media about Acuña beginning his rehabilitation process to come back to the team. As expected, Snitker wants Braves Country to be cautiously optimistic about his return. Remember how it went for the Braves in his first season back from injury only three years ago.
Snitker said that Acuña will gradually be working in some outfield work before returning to Atlanta.
“He’s gonna start playing the outfield and start his march back."
As far as the timeline is concerned, Snitker said that "it'll be a day-to-day thing" for the outfielder.
“It’ll be a day-to-day thing. They’ll reevaluate him again, like anybody, the day after (his first rehab game) and see how he feels and what the next step is. But it’ll just be good to get him running around in the outfield again and getting at-bats. They’ll monitor him to see how the at-bats are, see how he feels every day when he comes in after running around, and then go from there. At some point it’ll be, ‘OK, it’s time.’”
Snitker then finished by making it abundantly clear that Acuña will first play games in Gwinnett.
“He’s been out a year. He’ll have to go to (Triple-A) Gwinnett and play there.”
The only real problem with this is the Braves are still not a .500 baseball club midway through May.
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When can Atlanta Braves fans expect for Ronald Acuña Jr. to return?
As Snitker said, Acuña has not played in a game that counts in a year. The last time he tore his ACL, he gradually had to be worked back into the lineup. He would play some games in right field, but would serve as the designated hitter in other games, just to keep his powerful right-handed bat in the lineup. Of course, Marcell Ozuna was playing some pretty pathetic baseball back then for the Braves.
What I would venture to guess is Acuña will return some point before the All-Star Game in Atlanta. The Braves will implement a platoon of sorts in the outfield with Acuña splitting time with Alex Verdugo and Eli White for the two other spots not occupied by Michael Harris II. Of course, Harris has to hold up his own at the plate for this platoon to work. Otherwise, he might have to ride pine as well.
The most important thing to realize is the Braves are not going to rush Acuña back. It does not serve them to do so, even if his electrifying play could be a much-neeed spark plug to this team. I would expect that he will make an impact immediately upon arrival, but I am also not expecting that he will be carrying this team for lengthy stretches while he is still working back from another major injury.
The best way the Braves can serve Acuña is by playing better baseball before his arrival around June.