The Atlanta Braves offense has been the worst in MLB throughout the month of June. Everything has gone wrong, and their division lead has shrunk to just 3.5 games over the Philadelphia Phillies.
While underperformance from Atlanta's healthy players has contributed to the collapse, so has the unavailability of right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. The 28-year-old reaggravated his left hamstring strain June 9 during a game against the Chicago White Sox.
The injury was a tough blow considering Acuna had already missed two weeks in May due to the same hamstring, just the latest in a string of lower-body issues that have unfortunately taken a toll on his athleticism.
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This time around, his absence was not expected to stretch much beyond two weeks, but it has already surpassed that mark, with Acuna hitting three weeks on the injured list Tuesday.
He has made significant progress since initially landing on the 10-day IL. Ahead of Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Acuna was seen participating in a full workout in the outfield. Unfortunately for Braves fans, despite the progress, he still will not be returning to game action anytime soon.
Manager Walt Weiss spoke with reporters before the game and revealed that a return before the All-Star break remains a long shot despite the encouraging workout.
While this is not the update Braves fans wanted to hear, it makes sense why Atlanta is being so cautious given this is the second time Acuna has injured his left hamstring this year, and he remains one of the most important players in determining how far this team can go in October.
When healthy, he got off to a slow start but turned it up in May. Across 14 games that month, he posted a .286 batting average, .444 on-base percentage, 1.057 OPS, five home runs and 12 RBIs.
With the division race tightening and the offense struggling to producewithout him, getting Acuna back healthy is becoming more urgent by the day for a Braves team that is looking to return to the MLB playoffs.
