ANAHEIM, Calif. – As the Braves’ offense has struggled, the rehabbing Ronald Acuña Jr. has watched from afar. Of course, he wishes he could help.
“Yeah, it’s been really frustrating,” Acuña said through interpreter Franco García. “When you see the guys struggling like that, obviously you get that sense of frustration and you want to be able to help out. But with all that said, I have the utmost confidence in this group of guys. At the end of it all, I think they’re gonna be the ones who come out on top. I can’t say enough about them. I just have all the confidence in the world in them.”
Acuña, rehabbing in Los Angeles after surgery on the torn ACL in his left knee, joined the Braves at Angel Stadium this weekend. He feels well. Rehab is going well.
He said he’ll stay in Los Angeles until doctors clear his return to Atlanta. His wife and kids have been with him in Los Angeles.
“I’m good, I’m good,” Acuña said. “Obviously, we had some hard times after the operation. You deal with the pain and all the other things that go along with it. Right now I’m feeling really good, mentally I’m feeling really strong and I’m honestly just really happy to be back here with the guys. It feels really good to be back.”
The prevailing point from Acuña’s comments Saturday: He’s using his experience from his torn ACL three summers ago – that one in his right knee – to inform this process.
He said he’s been calmer. He knows what to expect. He understands what the rehab will entail.
And he also learned that he has to be patient. He won’t rush himself back.
“Yeah, I think in 2022, I just felt desperate to play, so I was basically looking for any excuse to go out there,” Acuña said. “So I would go out there even when I was feeling sore or not feeling good. So I think this go-around, I’m just gonna really try and make sure I’m at 100 percent before I sort of push the envelope or try to go out there.”
When he spoke to the media right after the trade deadline passed, Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Acuña could be ready around opening day next season.
Asked if he thinks he can be ready by opening day, or if it would be a little after, Acuña said: “Yeah, I think the important thing is just to feel good, and to feel right. And obviously, I’m anticipating not going through some of the similar things that I did in 2022. I think this time’s going to be different. But more so than anything, just wait until the doctor says I’m good to play and then start playing.”
In 2022, Acuña never returned to his best form. He struggled as he managed right knee soreness.
In 2023, he won National League MVP by posting one of the best seasons in Major League Baseball history.
In 2024, he tore the ACL in his left knee in Pittsburgh in late May.
It gives him extra motivation to win another MVP in 2025.
“Yeah, it’s been the biggest motivator,” Acuña said. “And I mean, that’s just to say that I just wanna come back and be healthy, and go back to playing my hardest for the team and giving 100 percent out there on the field, and just being the player that I know I can be.”
The Braves certainly could use Acuña. But he won’t be playing until next season. In the meantime, he encouraged Braves fans to continue supporting the team.
Acuña wants nothing more than to be out there with his teammates.
But at the very least, he’s been able to spend extra time with his two young boys.
“It’s been incredible,” he said. “I feel like it’s been an experience that’s helped me mature as a person, as a father. I think it’s just one of those things where I’ve never gotten the opportunity to spend that much time with them.”
