Ronald Acuna Jr. cannot catch a break. Three days after returning from a hamstring injury, the Braves outfielder was pulled from Thursday’s win over the Marlins because of pain in his left thumb.
Acuna had a delayed entry onto the field in the fifth inning because of the thumb issue, and then he was removed from the game entirely as a precaution. Braves manager Walt Weiss said postgame that the team believes Acuna has a bone bruise and that they expect it to be a minor setback.
The Acuna injury cycle
This is the Braves’ reality with their best player. Acuna is one of the rare 40-40 talents in baseball, and the cost of having that kind of dynamic athleticism is that the body breaks down more often. Knee surgery. Hamstring strains. Now a thumb issue.
The team has gotten good at managing him through it. Walt Weiss has been openly cautious about pushing him back from injuries, and the team’s training staff has built a slow ramp for every return. That patience is why Acuna is even active right now after the hamstring.
What the manager said
Weiss expects it to be a very minor setback. He even mentioned that Acuna was already trying to talk his way into the lineup for the next game before the trainers were done evaluating him. That’s the Acuna we all know. He plays the game hard, he wants to be on the field every day, and his definition of “minor” is significantly more aggressive than his medical staff’s.
“He was trying to talk his way into the lineup tomorrow as soon as the game was over,” Weiss said.
How the Braves cover
The good news is that the Braves still have one of the deepest outfields in baseball. Michael Harris II is one of the most underrated center fielders in the National League. Marcell Ozuna is a real bat in the lineup. Jurickson Profar fills in across the outfield when needed.
Atlanta does not need to manufacture lineups when Acuna sits a game. They just slide everyone over and keep going.
The bigger picture for Atlanta
The Braves are still chasing the Phillies and the Mets in the NL East. Every game Acuna misses matters, even at this point in May. The team can absorb a day or two without him. They cannot absorb a stretch where he misses two weeks again.
If this thumb is just a bone bruise, the Braves can manage. If it turns into something structural, the conversation around the team’s championship odds changes overnight.
The history is encouraging
Bone bruises are typically a few-day issue. They are painful, but they are not structural, and they tend to heal with rest. The fact that Acuna’s manager and the team’s medical staff are publicly calling this a minor setback is the strongest possible signal that the team does not expect this to extend into an IL stint.
That doesn’t mean it won’t. Bone bruises sometimes linger. But the early read from the team is that this is a couple of days at most.
The Acuna stat line
Acuna is having another typical Acuna season when he plays. He’s hitting for power. He’s running the bases like the speed never went away. He’s playing right field with the kind of arm that turns opposing baserunners into more conservative decision-makers.
You don’t replace a player like that. You hold him out when you can, you push him back into the lineup when he’s ready, and you cross your fingers that the injuries stay short.
The bottom line
Ronald Acuna Jr. is probably fine. The Braves are saying he’s fine. He’s already lobbying his manager to play tomorrow. Bone bruise, minor setback, expect him back in the lineup soon.
Now Atlanta just has to hope this is the last injury they have to manage for a while, because their NL East window is getting smaller by the week.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
