Three days ago, Justin Toscano tweeted that Ronald Acuña Jr. was ramping up his workload and preparing for a rehab assignment including drills that involve cutting. The stumbling Atlanta Braves’ lineup needs him badly, but his recent injuries suggest he’ll be a slightly different player.
Acuña Jr. made his Major League debut seven years ago, on April 25, 2018. When healthy, he’s a dynamic five-tool superstar capable, but he’s had recurring leg and groin injuries since then. Here is a look at all of the injury issues he has had in his career thus far.
Here is a look at Ronald Acuña Jr.’s injury history to this point
Acuña’s Injuries: From Annoying to Awful
Thirty days after his debut, Acuña injured the ACL in his left knee and missed a month. A minor groin strain in July cost him a couple of days, but a similar, more severe strain a year later, a severe groin ended his regular season early.
In 2020, Acuña was on the IL from 11-25 August with a sore wrist, pulled a hamstring five days after returning, costing him four days, and he missed four more days at the end of September when the wrist injury flared up again.
Acuña Jr. missed four days with an abdominal strain in April 2021, four days with an ankle injury in May, and three days with back tightness in June before tearing his ACL in July and missing the remainder of the 2021 season.
The Long Road Back
Acuña Jr. started the 2022 season on the IL and joined the team on April 28, but a groin injury sidelined him from May 11 to May 17. A week later, a sore quad cost him two games, and three days later, soreness in his repaired knee cost him two more days.
The second half of the season mirrored the first. He missed a week when he injured his left foot at the end of June, four days with a sore knee at the end of August, and three days with a calf injury in the middle of September.
A Season to Remember and Another Injury
Acuña Jr. returned with a flourish in 2023, stealing 73 bases, hitting 41 homers, and leading the league in hits (217), runs (149), OBP (.416), OPS (1.012), OPS+ (171), ended the year second to Mookie Betts with 8.4 rWAR but an MLB best 9.1 fWAR, and garnered all 30 possible first place and win NL MVP.
Expectations were high entering 2024, but Acuña started the season in a slump, and 49 games in, on May 26, a torn ACL in his left knee ended his season.
Acuña’s struggles and niggling injuries after his first ACL tear show how difficult it is for even a physically fit, highly trained athlete to bounce back from something that severe. He says he learned from the first injury and is doing things differently this time.
The Braves are going to protect him as much as possible to keep him in the lineup and ready for the postseason games they hope to play. I doubt he runs as often as in the past, so don’t expect a flurry of stolen bases, but his bat should be fine, and that’s what the lineup needs most.
That’s a Wrap
As he enters his age-27 season, he should be in his most productive prime years, but his injury history remains a concern. Acuña and the Braves are acutely aware of this, but they can’t wrap him in bubble wrap; he has to play as often as possible, the team’s postseason hopes depend on an injury-free, productive Ronald Acuña Jr.
