ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves return to Truist Park Monday to begin a four-game series against the Washington Nationals. They will do so while having lost another key member for the rest of the season: Ronald Acuña Jr. An MRI exam revealed Sunday that Acuña suffered a complete tear of the ACL in his left knee. He will miss the remainder of the season. The task at hand for the Braves is picking up the pieces and moving forward.
“I feel worse for the kid than for us. He’s gotta go through this again,” Brian Snitker said before Monday’s game. “It kinda felt like he was starting to get things turned around and going good. It’s just a freak kind of thing that happens. I feel for him to have to go through that process again.”
Acuña tore the ACL in his right knee in 2021 and missed the remainder of that season. He talked about how difficult the rehab process was, and also dealt with lingering soreness when he returned to the lineup in 2022. He regained his form in 2023 and put together a record-breaking season, winning the National League MVP Award unanimously. Acuña then tweaked his right knee during Spring Training and missed a couple of weeks of exhibition games. When meaningful games started, he got off to a slow start.
“It’s terrible. There’s few players in this league that are on a level that he is,” Austin Riley said of Acuña. “It’s a joy to watch him every night and to see that happen. You feel for him because he’s such a talented player. I know he’s gonna work his butt off to get back, but it’s definitely tough to replace Ronald.”
As tough it is, that is the task the Braves now face, starting with Monday’s game. Atlanta has already lost Spencer Strider to a season-ending elbow injury. The pitching staff has helped absorb that blow thanks to great performances from Chris Sale and Reynaldo López. The offense, which has struggled at times even with Acuña in the lineup, now must step up and try to replace his production.
Austin Riley, Sean Murphy return to the lineup
While the Braves lost Acuña, they do get two key pieces of their lineup back for Monday’s game. Austin Riley is in the lineup and hitting second after missing two weeks with soreness in his left side. Catcher Sean Murphy was reinstated from the Injured List Monday after suffering a strained oblique muscle on Opening Day.
“I’m really excited. They’re both in good spots,” Snitker said of Riley and Murphy. “We feel real good about both of them, getting them in there. So obviously, especially on the heels of all this happening, it’s nice to have them back.”
“Just excited to be back, feeling good,” Riley said of his return. “It took longer than I obviously wanted to.”
“I feel good, like I said, feel one hundred percent,” Riley added. “Last couple days, hit off the machine, saw some velo. Did live fungoes yesterday. Moving around pretty good, ran bases. Excited to be in there.”
Murphy said that the wait for his return was frustrating, but that he is happy to be back.
“Frustrating, but there’s a lot of waiting around, waiting for things to heal, and wishing it would go faster,” Murphy said. “But nothing you can really do to make what you want to happen, happen. Happy to be back.”
Ozzie Albies leading off Monday
Snitker moved Ozzie Albies into the leadoff spot for Monday’s game against Nationals’ lefty Mitchell Parker. He said that the lineup decisions would kind of be a day-to-day process for now.
“Just be a day to day thing. I like him against a lefty, obviously and I may stay with him,” Snitker said. “I don’t know. We’ll see how everybody else is going, what it looks like on a daily basis.”
The Braves will roll out an outfield that features Jarred Kelenic in left, Michael Harris II in center and Adam Duvall in right. Snitker said that that is the outfield he expects to use most days. Kelenic began the season in a platoon with Duvall in left field. Now, he is going to get the opportunity to play every day at least in the short term.
“Jarred’s gonna get some regular playing time. He’s gonna get left-handed [pitcher] at-bats and he’s in a good spot. I think he’s ready to take that next step,” Snitker said of Kelenic. “Adam, I feel really good about having him. Before he got hurt last year, he was having a really good year. We were fortunate that we were able to sign him in the spring and get him in the mix.
When the Braves acquired Kelenic in an offseason trade with the Mariners, they said they were planning on giving him every day at-bats in the outfield. That plan changed when Duvall became available during the spring, but is now back on the table with the hole prompted by Acuña’s absence.
Chadwick Tromp sticks on the active roster for now
When the Braves reinstated Murphy on Monday, it was veteran infielder Joey Wendle who was the odd man out and, perhaps surprisingly, not catcher Chadwick Tromp. That may be a short term move, but Snitker said that keeping Tromp would allow him to use either Murphy or Travis d’Arnaud as a pinch-hitter late in games.
“That allows me to use the extra catcher if we need to hit,” Snitker said of keeping Tromp. “It’s not to say I’m not gonna hit for Jarred late in the game against a tough left-hander or something.”
Having 13 position players afforded the Braves the opportunity to not place Riley on the Injured List for two weeks while he dealt with the issue in his side. The Braves have utilized the 26th spot on the roster sparingly over the last two seasons. Sticking Tromp there as a third catcher is just more of the same.
