After homering (again), Ronald Acuña Jr. feels good about his knee and Braves' chances

New York Times

25-05-2025

ATLANTA — It's like the Atlanta Braves were trudging across a deserted wasteland, and Ronald Acuña Jr. arrived with a cool drink of water for the parched throats of the team and its fans.
No, wait. He is that cool drink of water.
Acuña homered Saturday for the second time in as many games since a year-long rehab from knee surgery, a two-run shot in the sixth inning of a 7-1 win against the San Diego Padres at sold-out Truist Park. Once again, Acuña got thunderous ovations when introduced and again as he rounded the bases on his tape-measure homer.
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'It's awesome. He does a lot for our club and our lineup as a whole,' said manager Brian Snitker, whose Braves also got three hits from rookie sensation Drake Baldwin and a homer from surging Matt Olson to snap a seven-game skid against the Padres dating back to October's wild-card series.
After hitting a 467-foot homer on the first pitch of the opening inning in Friday's 2-1 loss, becoming the first player in MLB history to homer in his first game back after missing 150 or more games, Acuña homered again Saturday, sending another wave of euphoria through a packed ballpark and the Braves' dugout.
Another day, another @ronaldacunajr24 highlight ✌️#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/yOe7ovMF7V
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 24, 2025
'Sometimes you're just born with it, and he definitely was,' Olson said.
'Yesterday, when he hit that first-pitch home run, it kind of gave me the chills,' said Braves pitcher Grant Holmes, who limited the Padres to one run and six hits in seven innings Saturday. 'I mean that home run (Friday), I feel it kind of jolted us a little bit. We didn't come out with a win, but I feel that kind of got us going a good bit.
'And he's just that type of guy that's going to continue providing those situations.'
Snitker said of Acuña's three hits, two homers and strong defense in his first two games back, 'I'm glad that he's getting off the ground good, because that's tough when you haven't played in a year. I don't care how many at-bats you got in the minor leagues or how many (training) complex at-bats you got. This is a different animal up here with the people, the energy, the quality of play. So it's good that the kid could come back after that and hit the ground running.'
Acuña struck out three times Saturday, but he's looked so good hitting and running — on the bases and in the outfield — that Snitker decided he would play Acuña in Sunday's series finale rather than give him a day off following his first consecutive games played since the ACL injury on May 26, 2024.
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Acuña said through a translator, 'I feel good. It's been over a year since I've played, I don't know, three or four games in a row. But I'm feeling good and I think that's the most important thing.'
The Braves snapped a three-game skid and got back within a game of .500. Even though they were eight games behind the National League East-leading Philadelphia Phillies and five behind the New York Mets before those teams' Saturday night games, the Braves felt a lot better about their position now with Acuña back.
And he likes where they are, too.
'Yeah, I've always had a lot of confidence in this team,' Acuña said, 'and I feel like that's the last thing I'm gonna lose is confidence in the guys in this clubhouse. So, yeah, I feel really good about where we're at.'
Snitker spoke earlier Saturday about getting the Braves' offense going, not just to finally beat the Padres but also to get back above .500 and to stop playing low-scoring, one-run games.
Olson and Marcell Ozuna had been plenty productive in the Nos. 3-4 spots in the batting order during the past week, but few others had done much at all, Snitker noted.
'We just need a few more of them to get there,' Snitker said. 'These games are so tight that there's no room for any error at all. And if we could get a few more of those guys clicking, then it'd sure make it easier on everything.'
Well, they've got another one clicking now. And it's an extremely talented one.
Acuña is back. Man, is he back.
The Braves are still just 2-12 in games against the Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers this season, including sweeps by both teams during Atlanta's 0-7 season-opening trip to Southern California. But it's worth noting they didn't have Acuña for any of the first 11 games against them, nor for the wild-card series sweep by the Padres in October.
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They have him now. The Braves and Acuña took a conservative approach to his rehab this time, extending it over 12 months rather than the nine months he took to get back from his July 2021 ACL tear. They wanted to avoid the residual soreness that slowed him throughout 2022.
So far, it's just what they hoped for.
'I'm proud and happy, and just feeling extremely grateful to be a part of an organization that I think just put so much time and effort and energy and care into my recovery process, and invested in me,' Acuña said. 'I'm feeling well, and I think it's helping me just to play daily. And hopefully we just keep going to the place that we're going, keep feeling good.'
The Braves had a 3-1 lead Saturday before Acuña homered off right-handed reliever Alek Jacob, connecting with a 0-1 sweeper down and in and driving it to the left-center seats at 111 mph.
Acuña doesn't hit fence-scrapers or lollipop homers. He hits dangerous projectiles. The homer Friday traveled 467 feet and left his bat at 115.5 mph, the longest- and hardest-hit ball by a Braves player this season.
'It's like what I always say about him: You can't ease your way into a game with Ronald,' Olson said. 'Last night, perfect example — first pitch, 115 for a homer. He's dynamic when he gets on the bases. The throw last night at second. He's just … he's an MVP. And it's good getting that kind of a guy back.'
Not only did Acuña hit a homer in his first game back Friday, but he did it on the first pitch he saw from Nick Pivetta to lead off the first inning — and after calling his shot. Acuña said he told his brothers he was going to hit a first-pitch homer, and he also told some Braves teammates.
'He said it earlier, he predicted it,' said Ozuna, who was among the players Acuña said it to before Friday's game. 'First-pitch homer. He said it, then he did it.'
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It was the 35th leadoff homer of Acuña's career. He went 2-for-4 at the plate and had some outstanding defensive plays Friday, including throwing out Elias Díaz trying to stretch a single to a double to start the eighth inning.
'Doesn't surprise me,' said Ozuna, who, when asked to rate Acuña as an outfielder, said, 'He's at the top.'
Ask people around baseball to name the best defensive right fielders, and few if any are likely to name Acuña. They are more likely to name his right-field counterpart in this series, San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr.
Ozuna thinks he knows why.
'Because he doesn't show off like those other guys, like Tatis and all those guys,' Ozuna said of Acuña. 'He's the best. He's complete — one player, complete. He can do everything (at a 'plus' scouting level). Plus-plus. Three times plus. It's energy, speed, power. He's smart. He's matured now.
'Yeah, everything.'
On the Díaz play Friday, Acuña raced to the corner to collect the ball, turned and fired a bullet of a throw from the warning track to second base on the fly. Shortstop Nick Allen caught it and made an athletic play to tag Díaz in one motion as he tried to slide inside the bag to avoid the tag.
'I was like, he's got a strong arm, so if he gets to that ball, there's going to be a shot,' Allen said of his thinking as he watched Acuña sprint to the corner. 'And he did. And then I was like, wow, we really do have a shot, because I felt the runner coming. And then he made a good, strong throw, and it was kind of leading me to the runner, but I was like, 'If I get trucked right now, it is what it is. But I'm going to catch this thing and tag him.'
'It was a perfect throw, and I went in, got the tag in quick. (Acuña) has got a cannon, for sure. He did a good job. He let it eat and made a strong, accurate throw.'