The Braves will hope to hold onto first place in the absence of their right fielder as Ronald Acuna heads to the injured list.
The Atlanta Braves were worried when right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. went down while grabbing at his hamstring on Saturday, ultimately straining his left hamstring in the contest against the Colorado Rockies in the second inning. Unfortunately, the team announced Sunday that they are placing Acuna on the 10-day injured list as they still try to manage his workload while working back from a torn ACL suffered in 2024. To slightly offset that blow, the Braves also announced they are reinstating righty Spencer Strider to make a n anticipated season debut.
Acuna appeared to visibly grab at his left hamstring before exiting as he was about halfway down the first-base line running. After an MRI evaluation following the game, Atalanta formally placed in on the 10-day IL while recalling Jose Azocar to fill his roster spot. While he’s been limited to a combined 144 games over the last two campaigns due to his ACL tear and the subsequent recovery, Acuna actually appeared in all 34 games for the franchise this season. He is slashing .252/.362/.378 with two homers, nine RBIs, 17 runs, and a team-high seven stolen bases.
To read more about the injury and the rest of the series for Atlanta against the Rockies, here is the full story from Braves Roundtable writer Joey Mistretta on the injury.
As a silver lining, Strider is reinstated to make his 2025 season debut after being held out due to a Grade 1 oblique strain. In three rehab starts, the righty struck out 18 batters in 12.2 innings pitched with a 1.42 ERA. For now, they’ll have to make do as Acuna’s durability comes a bit into question again despite remaining in first place. Atlanta will hope their ceiling isn’t dependent on the quickness of Acuna’s return.