As they lament Ronald Acuña Jr.’s ACL tear, Braves change course again

“He’s a guy that wants to be out on the field playing,” Pérez said. “He doesn’t like sitting on the bench and watching the game. He likes to go out there and play. That’s why he’s probably hurt more than anything, because he wants to play.”

It is an unfortunate break. Beyond losing the remainder of this season and then having to go through rehab, statistical data for players returning from ACL tears indicates that Acuña’s play could lag in 2025, as it did in 2022 in his first season back from the 2021 tear of his right ACL. (The 2022 season was his poorest statistically, at least until this year.) It might not be until 2026 that Acuña is back at top form, at age 28.

“It’s terrible,” third baseman Austin Riley said. “There’s few players in this league that are on a level that he is, and it’s a joy to watch him every night. To see that happen, you feel for him. You feel for him because he’s such a talented player.”

There’s no reason to think that Acuña can’t get back to that level of play. Even still, one of the more talented players in the game’s history – and that is not hyperbole – has had about half of one season (2021) and two-thirds of another (2024) taken away from him by freak injuries, and potentially two more reduced by the drag of recovery. That’s a significant chunk of what likely are to be the best years of his career.

“I’m broken for him to go through this again,” second baseman and close friend Ozzie Albies said. “I know it’s hard.”

It is unfortunate, to say the least, evidence again that baseball – and sports in general – can be ruthless, indiscriminately chewing up some athletes and sparing others.

“You hate it; it’s part of it,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You kind of try and look at it such that we’re going to give somebody a chance to do something special in his absence.”

With it, the magic of the Braves’ 2023 season receded further into the past.

Among the myriad ways that the 2024 Braves are walking a different path than the 2023 version is the following. A year ago, first baseman Matt Olson, Albies, Riley and Acuña made history by all starting in each of the team’s first 117 games, the first quartet to accomplish that feat in the major leagues since 1944. It was a testament to Braves players’ commitment to be in the lineup every day but also to the considerable run of good health that the team enjoyed.

This year, that foursome made it all the way to April 15 before Albies was snagged by a fractured toe in the 15th game of the season, putting him on the 10-day injured list. Acuña played in the first 39 games before Snitker sat him down to give him a mental break. After playing at least 159 games in each of the past three seasons, Riley came back Monday from a 13-game absence with tightness in his left side.

Of last year’s iron four, only Olson has made it to this point without being sidelined, his games-played streak at 509 with Monday’s 8-4 home loss to Washington, the longest active streak in the majors.

It’s hardly the only distinction between this year’s team and last, but it speaks to how differently the season has played out thus far, principally with ace Spencer Strider’s season-ending elbow injury and now Acuña’s ACL tear. The 2023 Braves were not without infirmities, but they enjoyed a far smoother ride than this year’s lot has thus far.

“Yeah, we have (moved around more pieces),” Snitker said. “And probably will continue to do so, quite honestly, until we figure this whole thing out. It’s never easy.”

Snitker was asked before Monday’s game if he foresaw Albies, assigned the leadoff spot for Monday’s game, to remain in that slot in Acuña’s stead.

“It’ll just be a day-to-day thing,” said Snitker, who presumably never gave a moment of thought to the identity of his leadoff hitter throughout the 2023 season.

Monday’s loss against the Nationals added another defeat to the team’s dismal May, dropping the Braves to 11-12 for the month before their Tuesday game.

And yet, the Braves took the field Tuesday against Washington with a 30-21 record, a mere one game behind their 2023 mark after 51 games. A year ago, they had just lost a home series to the Dodgers, were in the midst of splitting four games with the Phillies (also at home) and were about to suffer a puzzling road series defeat at Oakland. Their jaw-dropping June, when they hit .306, slugged .569, bashed 61 home runs and won 21 of 25 games, was days away.

Even without the reigning MVP, the Braves may yet ascend to baseball’s peak. But the route up the mountain will be different than planned.

“Everybody’s hurt, but you’ve got to go through that,” Pérez said. “It happens in baseball. You’re not always going to stay healthy. It’s part of the game. Some teams go through it, and now it’s our turn.”