Ronald Acuña Jr.’s heartbreak appeared quite real.
The professional ballplayer who’s content to just deposit mammoth paychecks, live in a mansion and not feel compelled to bring their leftovers home from restaurants?
That would not seem to be Acuña as the Braves superstar right fielder faces rehab for a torn ACL for the second time in four years. (Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday in Los Angeles at the capable hands of Neal ElAttrache.) Since learning Sunday night that he had torn the ACL in his left knee on the base paths in Pittsburgh earlier that day, Acuña has been brought to tears as he has received support from teammates, coaches, fans, fellow players and the entire Braves organization.
“All that support finds me crying at home by myself, and the reason that’s happening is because I feel like I’m the one abandoning the team,” he said Thursday in his first public comments since the injury, at Truist Park through translator Franco Garcia. “It feels like I’m the one letting everyone down.”
Fans want their teams’ stars to care as much as they do and sometimes (often wrongly) conclude they do not (particularly when they lose). Maybe they don’t show sufficient emotion on the field, appear to not be giving complete effort or have the audacity to smile during competition.
For however many fingers of accusation have been pointed towards Acuña, the reigning National League MVP’s tears and his feelings that he has failed his team by suffering an injury beyond his control offer a convincing rebuttal.
His media session Thursday gave the picture of a ballplayer who cares a lot about his team and is sorely disappointed to not be playing but is also going into a grueling rehab with maturity not always found in 26-year-olds.
Acuña’s season before the injury did not approach his MVP standard, part of the team’s overall offensive malaise. However, the glimpse that Acuña offered into his mindset suggested that his career, once resumed, has better days ahead.
“Sometimes these things are blessings in disguise,” he said. “Sometimes you have to lose yourself to find yourself. I think that’s how I’m trying to approach this thing. I’m going to take everything in stride and, like I said, it’s another opportunity. And who knows? Maybe I can come back and win another MVP.”
Those aren’t the tone of thoughts he harbored after his first ACL tear, in his right knee in 2021, when he landed awkwardly trying to make a catch in right field against the Miami Marlins.
Then, he asked friends if they thought he would be able to play again, felt helpless and fell into a depression, according to the story he wrote for The Players’ Tribune in March.
Then, he was antsy and anxious to get on the field. This time around, he said, he has learned patience.
“And so this go-round, I’m just going to let things develop how they’re supposed to,” he said. “I’m going to continue to work hard, train, rehab, get stronger and then, (when) the team says I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go.”
He underscored this approach in a question about if he aimed to be back by opening day 2025.
The timing would make sense, given that he suffered his first ACL tear in July 2021 and returned on April 28, 2022. This time, having torn his ACL near the end of May, it stands to reason that a similar schedule would have him ready for the first game of the 2025 season, presumably in late March.
However, Acuña’s response was not what you might expect from a confident professional athlete whose powerful and explosive body has few peers anywhere on earth.
“I’m just hopeful that the surgery goes well, the rehab goes well, that everything goes according to plan,” Acuña said. “And as far as the return, I’ll be ready when the team says I’m ready. So until then, more opportunities for other guys to play.”
Does Acuña want to play as soon as he possibly can, probably by opening day? Almost certainly.
But does he recognize that, first, he’s not entirely in control of that, and second, that may not be the wisest course? It would seem so.
For Acuña’s own well being, a more informed and mature approach to his rehab is a positive. And for the sake of his career, it’s probably a good thing, too.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“He’s done it before, he’ll do it again,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s young and strong and this’ll just be a little blip in a really, really great career when he looks back on it.”
The rehab for Acuña, starting with at least a month in Los Angeles, will be long, tedious and punishing. Being away from his teammates and the game he loves will likely cause him to feel isolated. Snitker was sympathetic for him, knowing what lies ahead.
“Like I said earlier, I feel worse for him than I do for us because I know how much the kid loves to play baseball and it’s a lot of work to get back,” Snitker said. “And when you go through an injury like that, it takes a lot of work, a lot of dedication, determination and mental strength in order to come through that.”
Acuña is not the same person he was at the time of his first ACL tear.
He was 23, unmarried (with a girlfriend, Maria Laborde) and had one son less than a year old.
Today, he is 26, married to Maria and has two boys (Ronald and Jamal). And he has already labored through an injury and rehab that caused him to look deep within himself.
“He came at such a young age but now he’s maturing as a ballplayer, a person, father, the whole thing,” Snitker said.
Ronald and Jamal Acuña will be unwitting motivation in the months ahead, to say nothing of solace.
“Even the other day when I was at home, I found myself crying and I look over and they’re laughing,” Acuña said. “They don’t know any different. They’re kids. But to be able to see them laugh like that and just have family around, what you’re doing is for them. That’s what helps you get through it.”
Maturity, family and a drive to get back to top form?
Sounds like worthy fellow travelers for a long journey ahead.
Said Acuña, “My goal is to come back a better player, a better person.”
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