Friday afternoon, we got further clarification on the injury status of two of the biggest stars for the Atlanta Braves. While a lot of this news may not be particularly surprising, it’s still encouraging to get a better idea of where both Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider are at when it comes to their respective roads to recovery.
When it comes to Strider, Alex Anthopoulos informed the media that Strider is currently scheduled to pitch in games during spring training. Strider threw a bullpen today and this was after he pitched a session earlier this week on Tuesday.
Even though Alex Anthopoulos did state that Strider is still expected to start the season on the IL, AA did mention that they would like to see Strider pitch in a spring training game before Opening Day rolls around. Depending on how early Strider can get into spring action, that’ll probably determine how much of the season that he’ll spend on the IL before returning.
Obviously I think everybody would like Strider to come back as soon as possible but I think everybody involved knows that this is a very delicate situation when it comes to managing his return. Either way, I’d say that it seems like Strider’s definitely continuing to move in the right direction as far as his eventual return is concerned.
When it comes to Acuña, Anthopoulos continued to re-iterate that Acuña will also start the season on the IL and on top of that, he won’t be playing in any spring games. In lieu of spring game action, Acuña’s going to get his work done on the back fields.
#Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos confirmed Ronald Acuña Jr. & Spencer Strider won’t be on the Opening Day Roster. Acuña will not play in Grapefruit League games and instead get AB’s and work on the back fields. AA said they hope to have Strider pitch in a game before the end of ST.
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) February 14, 2025
Eventually Ronald Acuña Jr. spoke to the media and he made it pretty clear that he’s feeling bullish about his current level of progress. He figures that he’s around “90-95%,” which is pretty exciting to hear when you consider that this isn’t his first go-around with a torn ACL — in a different knee, mind you, but still. Here’s what he (himself) had to say to the media, with this report in particular coming from Courtney Martinez of WSB-TV:
“The priority is I’m feeling great. That’s the most important thing. One day when they tell me, you need to play that day, I’ll be there,” Acuña said.
Acuña knows what it’s like to recovery from ACL surgery. He tore his right ACL in 2021 and missed the Braves World Series championship run. But he came back in 2022 and produced a National League MVP-winning season in 2023.
The outfielder said his left knee feels more stable compared to the last surgery. Channel 2′s Alison Mastrangelo asked Acuña if his approach to base running would be different this season.
“Yeah, I need to take it easy a little bit when I get on base,” he replied.
However, the outfielder admitted it will be hard to go against his base-running instincts.
“It’s hard when I get on base because, for my mind, I just want to go. I want to go to second. I want to go to third. That’s what I do.”
All-in-all, I’d imagine that the Braves may not be waiting super long for either Acuña or Strider to return from their injury. How they’re handled once they do make their eventual returns is a different story and I’d imagine that the Braves are going to be very conservative when it comes to managing their respective playing time. We’ll see what happens going forward but it’s still encouraging to know that both stars are continuing to make tangible progress.
