Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Conversations and injury updates
By Steven Teal
The ‘Discussion’
This is Atlanta's Zapruder film right now. Was Freddie Freeman mad at Brian Snitker for benching Ronald Acuña Jr.?
— Wes Blankenship (@Wes_nship) August 19, 2019
Was he mad at Acuña for not hustling?
The world may never know. https://t.co/9lE05L9CPK
It sure looked like a serious conversation between the two but it wasn’t all that heated.
Freddie Freeman is a veteran who has been around for a while now and has always played the game the right way and hustled on every play.
I thought what most others did at first glance as well. However, after considering what had happened and the leadership that Freeman carries, I changed my opinion rather quickly.
It seems that both were in agreement on the decision and that it was a necessary teaching moment. Freeman stated that he spoke to Acuña before Brian Snitker did and that Ronald received everything he said and agreed with him.
Working on a column on Brian Snitker. One interesting tidbit from Freddie Freeman: He spoke to Acuna even before Snit did in the dugout and effectively told his teammate the same thing Snitker did. And anybody on Twitter who thought Freeman was mad at Snitker was flat wrong.
— Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzATL) August 20, 2019
Freeman understood the gravity that situation would cause in a playoff game where every base you can take matters. That would have been a disastrous inning for the Atlanta Braves had they not been able to come back and win on Sunday.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Tim Tucker spoke with Freeman and asked what he said to the 21-year-old outfielder.
"“I told him that in my eyes he’s got a chance to be the best player in this league, and the best players in the league don’t do that.” Freddie would be absolutely correct with that statement. You surely don’t hear that kind of thing happening with Mike Trout."
Freeman added further, “I think he’s going to learn. He shook his head yes to everything I had to say. He knows he made a mistake, and I think he’s going to be great going forward. I complimented him as I got mad at him.”
The Atlanta Braves absolutely cannot afford for Ronald to do that again. I don’t mind a player admiring a home run but that was one of those plays where you’ve got to hustle out of the box. It wasn’t a no-doubter and that cost the Braves a chance at a big inning.
Luckily, it didn’t lose the game for Atlanta and Acuña learned from his mistake. I am absolutely certain that it won’t happen again. He’s a young kid and he made a mistake (as we all do).
Next. Relief In Sight?. dark
The important thing is that it didn’t cause any issues in the clubhouse and everyone has moved on from it.