At long last, Ronald Acuña Jr. is nearing his return to the Atlanta Braves. He’s set to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday after missing nearly a full season due to a Torn ACL. Rather than stir controversy, Acuña took to Instagram on Monday and posted something that Braves manager Brian Snitker absolutely can get behind.
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) May 12, 2025
Acuña’s story gives the impression that he’s elated to finally be healthy enough to play in a game, and Braves fans can breathe a major sigh of relief that this message was one Snitker will have no qualms with.
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Ronald Acuña Jr. drama is offically behind him and the Braves
Acuña notably made headlines for all the wrong reasons earlier this season. He called Snitker out for not pulling Jarred Kelenic from a game for making a mistake Acuña had been punished for several times.
“If it were me, they would take me out of the game,” Acuña Jr. said in a since deleted tweet on X.
There are a couple of takeaways to gather from Acuña’s tweet. On one hand, it makes total sense that he was frustrated. Snitker not punishing Kelenic for something he’s been punished for in the past was not fair. On the other hand, did Acuña really have to publicly vent about this, especially while his team was trying to bounce back from a rough start with him on the sidelines? It wasn’t a good look for Acuña, even if what he was saying wasn’t wrong.
Acuña has seemingly pushed the drama aside, as he should, and is completely locked in on his return. A motivated and focused Acuña is exactly what this Braves team needs right now.
Atlanta has played well after its rough start, but the team still ranks 21st in runs scored. They’ve scored four runs or fewer in 10 of their last 11 games. We don’t know what version of Acuña the Braves are going to get, but assuming he’s even a fraction of what he can be, the Braves offense will receive a major lift.
