MILWAUKEE — In the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game, Ronald Acuña looked like himself. He had missed five games, but it didn’t seem like it.
One moment, he stole second base. The next, he tagged up on a shallow fly ball to right-center field and made it to third with relative ease.
“There was no particular desire to showcase the skills or anything like that,” Acuña said through interpreter Franco García. “That’s the style that I play and that’s just the way that I play baseball. With something like that, it’s just about playing my game and being open and vocal about how I’m feeling.”
In a 3-0 win over the Brewers, Acuña went 1-for-3 with two walks and the stolen base. He also smoked a 106-mph grounder that turned into an error, which allowed the Braves to score the game’s first run.
Acuña had not played since May 10 because of groin soreness. He first felt it on that Tuesday night versus the Red Sox, when he stole second then ran to third to take advantage of an error.
He eased everyone’s worries on Tuesday in Milwaukee.
“I do really feel good,” he said, “and I do feel healthy.”
His MRI, completed over the weekend, came back clean, and the Braves tested him daily. Acuña on Monday passed those tests, including running the bases, and that made the Braves believe he likely would be in Tuesday’s lineup. Thus, his inclusion in the order means there were no setbacks.
And he looked like, well, Ronald Acuña.
“He’s awesome, he’s dynamic,” Braves starter Tucker Davidson said. “Top-five player in the game.”
In the first inning, he reached on an infield single. He then reached on an error in the fifth, and walked in the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth, he displayed the spark he can bring to a club by stealing a base and taking another on a shallow fly ball.
“I haven’t seen Statcast or anything, but he looks even faster than he was before he got hurt,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Added Acuña: “It feels good, but the best thing is obviously that feeling that you’re being able to help the team. You’re able to execute something and it works out for the benefit of the team.”
Acuña is now batting .286 with an .888 on-base plus slugging percentage. Before the game, Snitker said the plan was for him to play on Tuesday night before the club’s medical team decides whether he can play on Wednesday. The Braves will continue monitoring how the outfielder feels when he arrives to the ballpark each day.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing him play right field tomorrow if everything goes good,” Snitker said before the game. “That’ll be up to the medical guys. We’re still in that stage of working him back in and getting him in the competitive baseball shape that he needs to be in.”
Tyler Matzek undergoes MRI
The Braves on Tuesday placed lefty Tyler Matzek on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 14, with left shoulder inflammation. His MRI didn’t reveal anything “huge,” Snitker said. It did not reveal anything that would need to be reconstructed via surgery.
The thought is that rest and exercises can help Matzek, who will be shut down for two weeks before he is re-evaluated.
Matzek on Monday said the shoulder pain could’ve been caused by altering his mechanics to compensate for a back flare-up he experienced before spring training.
“I think it all can be connected, as guys try and overcome and recorrect and things like that,” Snitker said. “I’m sure it’s not easy to pitch when your back’s bothering you.”
With Matzek’s roster spot, the Braves brought up lefty Tucker Davidson to start Tuesday’s game.
Spencer Strider is grateful for the opportunity
Spencer Strider has said this many times: He doesn’t care if he is a starter or a reliever. He’s simply happy to contribute to the club.
Why is it so easy for him to be grateful and adaptable?
“I think you have to learn those traits,” Strider said. “I’ve had an injury. Like everybody else, I experienced the COVID season. Baseball has been taken away, and so when those things happen, you have to form some gratitude for it. That’s what helps you get better, that’s what helps you appreciate it and have more success. I don’t think when I was 5, 10, 12 years old, if anybody said, ‘Hey, you’re going to pitch in the big leagues,’ (that) I would’ve really cared in what capacity. I just want to be helpful and contribute and help us win games.”
With Matzek out for now and Luke Jackson out for the season, Strider could see more high-leverage innings. Strider has a 2.75 ERA over 19 2/3 innings, but has not pitched in a ton of high-leverage spots. That could change as the Braves need someone to help fill that role.
And because of this, Snitker hopes Davidson can grab hold of the fifth-starter job and keep it. That way, the Braves can comfortably deploy Strider out of the bullpen.
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