Update, 3/2: An MRI has revealed irritation in Acuna Jr.’s right meniscus, per a team announcement. The Braves are sending him for further evaluation, but still maintains they expect him in the lineup come Opening Day.
Here’s what Braves manager Brian Snitker had to say on Acuna:
“Right now we’re trying to be optimistic,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told The Athletic. “Maybe (he’s out for) just a couple of weeks or whatever, just to calm everything down. But honestly, I don’t know until we get what the doctor out there says.”
Hold your breaths, everybody. Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. was an unexpected scratch from the Atlanta Braves’ spring training game on Friday afternoon with what the team is calling right knee soreness.
Ronald Acuña Jr. was removed from today’s lineup “as a precaution” due to right knee soreness.
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) March 1, 2024
The club stressed that the move was “a precaution,” but it is worth noting that the right knee is the same knee in which Acuna Jr. tore his ACL back in 2021. Acuna Jr. returned in the middle of the 2022 season and was understandably a bit rusty, posting a .764 OPS (easily the lowest of his career) and leading the NL in caught stealing despite playing in just 119 games.
In 2023, however, he looked like his old self and then some: Acuna Jr. authored one of the best offensive seasons the game has ever seen, slashing .337/.416/.596 with 41 homers and a whopping 73 stolen bases while leading the NL in OPS. He also played in 159 games, avoiding the Injured List entirely and seemingly putting his knee surgery far into the rearview mirror.
Of course, it could be that the decision to rest Acuna Jr. was just that: a precaution. It’s March 1, after all, and there’s no reason for the Braves to force things with their best player if he so much as wakes up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. The most likely scenario is that he just banged it up at some point and the team wants to keep him off his feet. But soreness in a surgically repaired knee is obviously nothing to sneeze at, and the entire South is sure to be very anxious until we get further updates.
