Atlanta Braves star right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is expected to head out to Los Angeles for a key evaluation for his ACL. Manager Brian Snitker didn’t know which day he was heading out there, but knew it was soon.
Should everything look good, he can ramp up for a rehab assignment. There is no timetable for his return. However, the current expectations are that he could be back in May.
Acuña has been out for the last 11 months recovering from an ACL tear that he suffered in his knee at the end of last May. The Braves have been taking a different approach to his recovery. When he returned to action following an ACL tear in his right knee, he wasn’t himself until the following season.
There is no desire to rush him. He didn’t see any live action during Spring Training like his pitching counterpart Spencer Strider did. All work was on the backfields.
When he’s back, they want him as close to his 2023 National League MVP form as possible.
The emphasis will be how far along he is with his bat. He doesn’t plan to go as hard on the basepaths in order to keep himself healthy. That has to happen once you’ve had surgery done on both knees.
Fangraphs currently projects that Acuña will slash .298/.385/.522 with 27 home runs and 75 RBIs over 128 games. They still projected 45 stolen bases. Not so sure how realistic that will be with the new game plan, but the rest of his predicted stats are doable.
Acuña should provide spark to a Braves lineup that could still use it. The Braves finally broke out against the Marlins on Friday to put up 10 runs en route to their first win of the season.
They’ll have to pick up the pace beyond getting him back to correct course postseason contention, but having him in the lineup will only help.
