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When will Ronald Acuna Jr. return? Braves star set to play Louisville Bats during rehab

When will Ronald Acuna Jr. return? Braves star set to play Louisville Bats during rehab

Yahoo20-05-2025
Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. is scheduled to play against the Louisville Bats tonight at Louisville Slugger Field.
Acuna, the 2023 National League MVP and a four-time All-Star, has been rehabbing with the Gwinnett Stripers, the Braves' Triple-A team. The Stripers and Bats are set to play at 6:35 p.m., but severe weather is in the forecast.
In a three-year span, Acuna Jr. tore his ACL in his right knee (2021) and his left knee (2024). After being out since May 26, 2024, he began his rehab assignment last week. In his debut with the Stripers, he hit a home run. Four days later, he smashed a 420-foot homer against Charlotte. In four games played, Acuna Jr. is batting .444 with four hits, six runs scored and two RBIs.
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The 27-year-old is scheduled to face a Bats team that has lost six games in a row. Louisville's last win was a 4-3 victory over Omaha on May 11, avoiding the series sweep.
According to Mark Bowman, who covers the Braves for MLB.com, Acuna Jr. could be activated by Friday, when the Braves host the San Diego Padres.
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Bats game today: Ronald Acuna Jr. set for rehab assignment
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Hamby's basket with 4.3 seconds left gives Sparks 108-106 win over Storm 108-106 in 2 OTs
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Hamby's basket with 4.3 seconds left gives Sparks 108-106 win over Storm 108-106 in 2 OTs

SEATTLE — Dearica Hamby's layup with 4.3 seconds left gave the Los Angeles Sparks a 108-106 win over the Seattle Storm on Friday night in the first double-overtime game in the WNBA this season. Hamby put up a contested shot but Skylar Diggins' similar shot on the other end fell off the rim as time expired. Rickea Jackson had 27 points to lead the Sparks (12-15), who have won six of seven. Kelsey Plum added 22 points and seven assists, while Hamby and Azura Stevens both had 21. Hamby also had 13 rebounds. Cameron Brink had seven points, four rebounds, three blocks, two steals and five fouls in 12 minutes in her second game back after ACL surgery last season. Nneka Ogwumike scored 37 points, one shy of her career high when she played with the Sparks nine years ago, and grabbed 12 rebounds for Seattle (16-12). She became the sixth player to reach 7,000 points for her career. Diggins had 18 points, Erica Wheeler 15 and Gabby Williams 14 points and eight assists. Ezi Magbegor had nine points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. There were 14 ties and 12 lead changes. Plum's three-point play following her 3-pointer gave the Sparks a 69-68 lead, their first since ending the first quarter up 18-16. Williams hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 106 with 16.4 seconds to play in the second overtime. Diggins tied the game at 99 with 18 seconds left in the first extra session before Plum missed at the buzzer. Jackson tied the game at 86 with 4.3 seconds left in regulation and Wheeler missed a contest 3 at the buzzer.

The Reds added a longterm third baseman. What's that mean for prospect Sal Stewart?
The Reds added a longterm third baseman. What's that mean for prospect Sal Stewart?

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  • Yahoo

The Reds added a longterm third baseman. What's that mean for prospect Sal Stewart?

LOUISVILLE − Asked about Cincinnati Reds blue-chip prospect Sal Stewart, Louisville Bats manager Pat Kelly indicated the player's time was coming, and soon. "He and (Hector) Rodriguez are the next two guys to go to fit in with that core we already have up there," Kelly said, "so I think they're important pieces." At the time of Kelly's remarks on July 24, Stewart had been in his Louisville Bats clubhouse for about a week and five total games. That wasn't their first encounter, though. Stewart holding his own during Reds spring training this year got Kelly's attention. "Obviously, you've got to love the bat. It's a live bat with a very advanced approach," Kelly said. "Not afraid to use the whole field. He's got occasional power, which is good to see. Defensively, I see big improvement. He keeps getting better every year and I think he's getting to the point now where he should be able to stay at third, which is really important." Reds trade Ke'Bryan Hayes Pirates Reds trade for Ke'Bryan Hayes from Pittsburgh Pirates. What we know Reds trade Pirates prospect Who is Sammy Stafura? Reds trade 20-year-old shortstop to Pirates for Ke'Bryan Hayes Stewart, now the highest-rated Reds prospect not currently in the majors, started his 2025 season with the Reds' Double-A affiliate in Chattanooga. By the time he reached the MLB All-Star Week's Futures Game, he had earned the promotion to play under Kelly in Louisville. There, success didn't come instantly but it did come eventually. By July 30, Stewart's batting average had climbed to .300 through 10 games. He had four home runs and a .950 OPS. "It's going pretty good. I'm kinda pleased with how I'm playing so far but when I got (to Louisville), I got off to a little bit of a slower start than I would have liked in Triple-A," Stewart said of his first five games in Triple-A. "I'm just hard on myself sometimes. 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Stewart's taken many steps since he was drafted out of high school (Westminster Christian in Miami) by the Reds in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft at No. 32 overall. He was the end-product of Nick Castellanos' time in Cincinnati as he was a compensatory pick resulting from Castellanos' departure. After spending the rest of 2022 in the Arizona Complex League, Stewart spent 2023 playing A-ball, both with the Daytona Tortugas and the Dayton Dragons. Stewart's 2024 featured 80 games at High-A Dayton before he suffered an accident that injured his wrist and required surgery. In 2025, Stewart's ascended rapidly. First came spring training, where he was a frequent topic of conversation when Reds manager Terry Francona met with reporters in his office each morning. "Yeah, for a young kid to handle himself in major league camp, I thought he was very professional about his approach," Kelly said. "That's the intangibles you're looking for." 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A look at some interesting story lines from baseball's trade deadline frenzy
A look at some interesting story lines from baseball's trade deadline frenzy

Boston Globe

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  • Boston Globe

A look at some interesting story lines from baseball's trade deadline frenzy

Last one out lock the door: The Twins traded 11 players off their 40-man roster in a span of four days, including Carlos Correa . On Monday, when the first of the trades went down, manager Rocco Baldelli correctly predicted it was going to be a difficult few days. Advertisement 'I'm kind of used to rolling with the punches and trying to find different ways to succeed,' he said. 'Kind of been used to that my entire baseball life. The psychological part of it is not going to affect me very much, because I know we're going to have to turn in a different direction. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'We're going to have to challenge guys and put guys in different spots. I've seen this many times before. It's actually the way you find out about other guys by giving them opportunities.' 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I think our job is to pass it on to the next generation.' There have been a record 14 Japanese position players in the majors this season. 'I'm proud of that for sure,' Yoshida said. 'But also of the other Asian players, too. So many players want to come here. That is the goal.' Advertisement It was Ichiro who showed it was possible. Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player granted entry to the Hall of Fame. Seth Wenig/Associated Press A few other observations on the Red Sox: ⋅ Craig Breslow has had some good offseasons. He hit on Tyler O'Neill and Justin Slaten before the 2024 season, and give him full credit for trading Alex Verdugo for Richard Fitts and Greg Weissert . He traded for Garrett Crochet and Carlos Narváez last winter, and signed Aroldis Chapman and Alex Bregman . Great job. The trade deadline work is suspect. Related : Luis Garcia , Danny Jansen , James Paxton , and Lucas Sims were worth minus-0.9 bWAR in 2024. They made the team worse. This season — with clearly defined needs and a supposedly deep farm system — Breslow delivered only Steven Matz and Dustin May . There wasn't a first baseman anywhere to be had, or a better starter? The old expression 'perfect is the enemy of good' seems to apply. Breslow sometimes seems more satisfied about what he didn't do than what he actually did. It's hard not to wonder if more Sox fans would have preferred that Breslow sold high on Chapman, Lucas Giolito , and Justin Wilson instead of making such cautious additions. ⋅ The 2020 draft and the machinations that accompanied it are interesting. The Sox took second baseman Nick Yorke with the 17th pick, a surprise to many draft evaluators who didn't see him going that high. Chaim Bloom signed Yorke to an under-slot deal and used the savings to land high school slugger Blaze Jordan in the third round. Yorke was traded to the Pirates in 2024 for righthander Quinn Priester . Breslow then traded Priester to Milwaukee in April for two prospects who haven't cracked the organization's top 30. Priester is since 10-2 with a 3.27 ERA for the Brewers. Jordan had an .872 OPS over 88 minor league games this season, but is viewed by scouts as a slugger who doesn't handle high velocity well and may not have much of a ceiling. He's back with Bloom, having been traded to the Cardinals for lefthanded reliever Matz, a rental. The other two players the Sox took in that draft, college lefthanders Shane Drohan and Jeremy Wu-Yelland , haven't gotten beyond the minors. Five years later, Matz may be the last chance for the Sox to get some value from that draft, however indirectly. ⋅ For the first time since 2007, the Red Sox faced a righthander named Clemens. Kody Clemens pitched the ninth inning for the Twins on Wednesday and allowed two runs on two hits — home runs by Yoshida and Romy Gonzalez . Clemens hit 86.7 miles per hour with a pitch to Abraham Toro that resulted in a grounder back to the mound. That was an offspeed pitch for Roger Clemens . But Kody has 26 homers and his pops didn't have any in 179 career at-bats. ⋅ The Sox have been involved in 18 walkoffs this season, winning eight of those games. It's the most since the 2014 team had 19 such games, winning nine. Related : ⋅ As was expected, MLB awarded the 2027 All-Star Game to the Cubs. The next opening on the schedule is 2028. Boston, Baltimore, and Toronto are cities known to be contending for the game. This will be the fourth All-Star Game at Wrigley, and the first since 1990. Only Municipal Stadium in Cleveland and old Yankee Stadium in New York have hosted four times. Fenway hosted in 1946, '61, and '99. ⋅ Jackie Jensen's 1958 MVP award Jensen had a .931 OPS that season with 35 homers and a league-leading 122 RBIs. He received nine of a possible 24 first-place votes. ⋅ Glenn 'Goose' Gregson joined the Sox for their three games in Minnesota. Gregson, 75, has been with the team for 24 years as a pitching coach, instructor, and coordinator. Now retired, Gregson is with the team in spring training and occasionally during the season. He lives in Montana, about a two-hour flight from Minneapolis. ETC. Jansen still impressing for Angels The Angels have only a 1.9 percent chance of making the postseason, but they added infielder Oswald Peraza and acquired relievers Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia from the Nationals. (Yes, that would be the same Luis Garcia who was with the Angels in 2024 and was traded to the Red Sox at the deadline). The Angels were nine games out in the AL West at the time of the trade and 4½ games out in the Wild Card. Kenley Jansen could have returned some decent prospects. He went into the weekend having not allowed an earned run over 17 appearances and 16⅓ innings. He struck out 17 and walked two in that stretch. Take away a six-run meltdown against the Tigers on May 2 and Jansen would have a 1.25 ERA this season. He also has converted 20 of 21 save chances. Jansen, who turns 38 in September, has 467 saves, fourth all-time and 11 away from tying Hall of Famer Lee Smith for third. Jansen's 1,260 strikeouts are the fifth most in history by a reliever. Extra bases The Brewers averaged 31,323 fans last season. It's 31,041 this season. That's not a big drop, but Milwaukee went into the weekend 64-44 and leading the Cubs by a game. The Brewers have the fourth most runs scored in the National League, and are second in the majors in stolen bases. What are the fans waiting for? … Brian Knight retired after 16½ seasons as an umpire because of injuries. He was behind the plate for Jon Lester's no-hitter at Fenway Park on May 19, 2008 … Happy birthday to Kevin Morton , who is 57. The lefthander from Norwalk, Conn., played at Seton Hall from 1987-89. His teammates included Craig Biggio , Dana Brown [now general manager of the Astros], Mo Vaughn , and John Valentin . Morton was a first-round pick of the Red Sox in 1989 and made his major league debut in 1991. He was 6-5 with a 4.59 ERA over 16 games. It proved to be his only season in the majors because of underperformance and injury. Morton stayed in baseball through 1996, spending time in the minors with the Royals, Mets, and Cubs before playing briefly in Mexico and Taiwan. His son, Korey , was an outfielder at UConn from 2021-24 and played a season in the Astros system. Peter Abraham can be reached at

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