Ronald Acuña Jr.’s return was worth the wait.
In his first game since tearing his ACL nearly a year ago, the Atlanta Braves star clubbed a homer on the first pitch he saw from San Diego Padres starter Nick Pivetta. He certainly looked happy to be back.
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The homer was a monster by Statcast numbers, leaving the bat at 115.5 mph and traveling 467 feet into the left-field stands. That’s the fifth-longest homer of Acuña’s career, per Baseball Savant.
Before Friday, Acuña’s last MLB game was May 26, 2024. In the first inning, he went down with a non-contact injury after a quick acceleration on the basepaths and eventually limped off the field.
The Braves need Ronald Acuña Jr.
Acuña had previously torn his ACL in 2021, causing him to miss the rest of the season and then part of 2022. Four of his past five seasons have been impacted by ACL tears and the lone unaffected season, 2023, saw him win unanimous NL MVP honors after posting MLB’s first 40-homer, 70-steal season.
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The Braves have languished without their star outfielder, going from 104 wins in 2023 to only 89 in 2024 (part of a team-wide regression). This season, they are 24-26 after losing 2-1 on Friday, good for third place in the NL East. They are closer in the standings to the last-place Miami Marlins than the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.
Like with most superstars, the Braves are simply a different offense with Acuña atop the lineup. Alongside 50-50 man Shohei Ohtani, he’s one of the biggest power-speed threats in modern baseball history when he’s on the field, hitting .296/.385/.515 with 84 homers and 135 stolen bases since 2021.
Atlanta also recently welcomed back All-Star pitcher Spencer Strider, who can make a similar impact.
Ronald Acuña Jr. is officially back. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
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There was an extracurricular component to Acuña’s absence as well, as he caused a minor controversy with a quickly deleted tweet accusing manager Brian Snitker of a double standard over which players get benched for not hustling on the basepaths.
Acuña has since apologized to Snitker and his teammates. Judging from his return, they have plenty of reason to forgive him.