After exiting Tuesday's game after fouling a ball off his left leg, Acuña Jr. is set to return to the Braves' lineup on Thursday.
After Ronald Acuña Jr. went down for a brief moment in Tuesday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds, it is safe to assume Atlanta Braves fans held their breath in fear.
In his third-inning at-bat, Acuña Jr. swung at a 3-1 cutter from Reds starting pitcher Brandon Williamson and fouled the ball off the lower half of his left leg. The Braves outfielder fell to the ground and struggled to get up, falling back to the ground once again after attempting to walk.
He was then removed from the game and was pinch-hit for.
Acuña Jr. missed Wednesday’s game as a result, as the Braves started Brewer Hicklen in right field in his place. Though it seemed to be a concerning development, Braves fans can exhale ahead of the team’s series finale against the Reds on Thursday.
The day after he was removed, Acuña Jr. had taken swings in the batting cage and was able to walk around without a limp on Wednesday, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. After the initial injury concern, it seemed to be immediately wiped as the Braves wind down their regular season.
Acuña Jr. was slotted right back in right field for Thursday night’s game and is slotted to bat second in the Braves’ batting order.
With the postseason set to begin in just under a week, the potential outcome of a lengthy injury for Acuña Jr. was a reality the Braves had feared, but fortunately avoided. That outcome would have come at a rather terrible time for Atlanta.
The Braves are on the verge of securing the third seed in the National League, as the Los Angeles Dodgers hold a magic number of one to secure the second seed and a bye in the Wild Card Series. With that, Atlanta is just about set to turn their attention to a postseason game this upcoming Tuesday.
The NL Wild Card series, a best of three series, would be slated for Tuesday to Thursday, in the case of a third game being needed. Atlanta being without Acuña Jr. at such an integral part of the season could be detrimental, but will likely not be an issue going forward.
Despite dealing with a pair of injured list stints this year, Acuña Jr. has once again excelled for the Braves in his ninth season. In 104 games this season, Acuña Jr. owns a .259/.352/.462 slashline to go with 20 homers and 55 RBI.
At the moment, the Braves are most likely to end up playing either the Philadelphia Phillies or the San Diego Padres in a potential Wild Card series, as the two continue to battle for higher seeding in the final week of the regular season.
