Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. has a lengthy injury history, and he is still just 28 years old. He has spent multiple month long absences recovering from torn ACLs, one in each knee. Even this year, he missed several weeks on the 10-day injured list while recovering from a Grade 1 left hamstring strain.
Acuna returned on Tuesday in the second game of a four game series against the Miami Marlins. He first returned as the designated hitter before moving back to right field on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Acuna once again drew the start in right field. Unfortunately, he did not finish the contest, leaving the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. Backup outfielder Eli White took over in right.
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Acuna had logged three plate appearances before being removed and had a productive day, recording two hits and two RBIs to help Atlanta carry a 6-2 lead into the seventh inning.
Moments later, the Braves confirmed Acuna’s exit was injury related, but the update was encouraging. “OF Ronald Acuña Jr. was removed from tonight’s game as a precaution with pain in his left thumb,” the team wrote on X.
The good news is that he did not re-aggravate his left hamstring. It was unclear whether Acuna would even play in this series, as manager Walt Weiss had expressed hesitation about using him on Miami’s turf field. The use of the word precaution suggests this will hopefully not lead to another injured list stint just three days after being activated.
Acuna has posted a .252 batting average, .364 on-base percentage, .742 OPS, two home runs and nine RBIs through 36 games this season.
That is not what Braves fans are accustomed to seeing from the former National League Rookie of the Year, MVP, five time All-Star and three time Silver Slugger. Still, there is plenty of time for him to turn things around.
His next chance to return and show the thumb issue is minor will come Friday in the series opener against the Washington Nationals.
