The Atlanta Braves might get their superstar back before the week is over. Acting manager Walt Weiss dropped the most optimistic update yet on Ronald Acuña Jr.’s recovery from a strained left hamstring, saying there’s a chance he returns before the team’s current homestand wraps up Thursday.
Acuña’s rehab assignment moved to Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday after he spent three games with the rookie-level FCL Braves. He didn’t play in Friday’s Gwinnett game against Toledo, but the team says his schedule was already mapped out after he traveled to Ohio.
The 28-year-old has been on the 10-day injured list since June 10. In three rehab games with the FCL squad, he went 1-for-7 with a homer and five RBIs. Not exactly a scorching line, but the Braves don’t care about the numbers right now. They just need him healthy.
Before the injury, Acuña was having a solid but unspectacular season: .251 with seven homers, 22 RBIs and 15 stolen bags in 53 games. He originally tweaked the same hamstring on May 2, came back May 19 and posted an .893 OPS across 19 games before reinjuring it. Since he went back on the IL, Atlanta has gone 10-19. That’s not a coincidence.
Gwinnett is familiar territory for Acuña. He’s hit .313 with 11 homers and an .865 OPS in 88 career Triple-A games. The 2023 NL MVP is also a five-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger and the 2018 Rookie of the Year. The guy knows how to hit.
Good news for Acuña. Bad news for the rotation.
Weiss sounded hopeful about Acuña but had nothing encouraging to offer on the pitching front. Spencer Strider, out since June 12 with right elbow inflammation, is meeting with Dr. Keith Meister next week. A return this season looks unlikely.
Spencer Schwellenbach had elbow surgery in February to clean out loose bodies from a bone spur. He hasn’t resumed baseball activities in Florida yet, and Weiss said he doesn’t know when that will start. His availability for 2026 is in serious doubt.
So the Braves are in a weird spot. They might get their MVP back this week. But the rotation is held together with tape and hope. That’s baseball, I guess.
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