The Atlanta Braves have a busy, busy week coming up. After a three-game series against the Cardinals, the players themselves get to (mostly) enjoy some much-needed downtime during the All-Star break beyond several of them participating in the All-Star festivities themselves. However, the All-Star break is also when we have the Futures Game as well as the 2026 MLB Draft going on.
However, those tentpole events will get plenty of coverage and attention. Here are some of the Braves news tidbits that may have been lost in the chaos surrounding the end of the first half of the 2026 season.
Ronald Acuña Jr. set to begin rehab assignment, should return shortly after All-Star break
There is no denying that the Braves' lineup has desperately missed Ronald Acuña Jr. Not only is he still one of the most dangerous hitters in the league that other teams have to account for, but Atlanta's lineup has a severe lack of quality right-handed hitters, especially when you consider just how bad Austin Riley has been.
Thankfully, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Acuña Jr.'s second hamstring injury of the season seems to be healing well, and manager Walt Weiss revealed that he should begin a rehab assignment during the All-Star break. Exactly how soon he returns after that will depend on how his rehab goes, but it shouldn't be long after the second half gets started.
Robert Suarez is still not cleared to throw, could be weeks before he returns
Unfortunately, the news isn't quite as positive when it comes to reliever Robert Suarez. Suarez has been out since the end of June with forearm inflammation. While Atlanta seems to have thankfully dodged a serious injury with Suarez (knocks on wood), his absence has been felt in the Braves' bullpen over the last few weeks.
While Suarez hasn't had any setbacks, it could still be a little while before we see him on the mound with the Braves again. According to Weiss, it will likely be a couple of weeks before Suarez returns, and he has yet to be cleared to start throwing again. If you assume that Suarez will need a normal rehab assignment, it may be the end of July before Suarez is taking the reins in high-leverage spots for the Braves again.
Braves set to be a 2026 MLB Draft wild card with two first-round picks
The 2026 MLB Draft begins early Saturday afternoon, and the Braves have no shortage of options available to them. However, the consensus "top tier" of the draft ends at around pick 6, which looks less than ideal for Atlanta at first glance.
However, with two first-round picks and a whole bunch of bonus pool money to play with, the Braves may be the ones that determine the entire direction of the first round. If they opt to save money on early picks, they could go ham in rounds 2-5 or even on the second day of the draft. If they have someone they really like, they could offer them a boatload of money to get them to fall to one of their picks. The world is the Braves' oyster, they just have to figure out how they want to tackle it.
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