The Atlanta Braves rolled to victory on Saturday over the Rockies by the score of 9-1. Chris Sale was magnificent and seemed to get better the longer the game went, while Drake Baldwin went 3-4 while driving in four runs. It was almost perfect, except that the biggest takeaway from the game is the growing concern over Ronald Acuña Jr.
Acuña Jr. hasn't gotten off to the start fans hoped for, but we know what he is capable of, and the guy had still gotten on-base in 23 straight games, including Saturday night's game. Unfortunately, Acuña Jr. came up lame running out a ground ball and was pulled early from the game. In that moment, everything changed.
After locking up the win, Braves manager Walt Weiss spoke to reporters after the game about Acuña Jr.'s status. He personally didn't like the way it looked when the injury happened and, in his own words, "...that's never good when we get an MRI." Weiss did leave a little room for optimism, but it is looking like Acuña Jr.'s injury could be a pivotal moment for this (very exciting) Braves team.
Ronald Acuña Jr.'s injury puts the Braves in a very difficult roster position
Losing Acuña Jr. is already a big problem, even without considering the rest of the Braves' roster situation. Having Acuña Jr. lead off and play right field sets the tone for the game and keeps opposing teams honest about how they use their pitchers and how aggressive they plan to be on the bases. Even when he is not at his best, just the threat of Acuña Jr. beating a team by himself is something opponents have to account for.
The problem goes deeper than that, though. The Braves' outfield situation was already tenuous heading into Saturday's matchup. Atlanta already lost Jurickson Profar because he thought no one would suspect him of cheating AGAIN, and Michael Harris II is dealing with a quad injury that has been slow to heal. In terms of quality outfielders, the Braves are basically out of them in the majors, and there are not any names at Triple-A worth getting excited about.
The good news is that the Braves do have reinforcements coming that could help the cause. Obviously, Sean Murphy and Ha-Seong Kim don't play the outfield (or at least they shouldn't), but both players should be returning soon from the IL, and that should free up Mauricio Dubon to play the outfield more. Harris is certainly dinged up at the moment, but the Braves keep playing him at DH, which points to his injury not being a major concern at the moment.
The Braves can weather this if they are smart. After all, they have been the best team in baseball so far in 2026, with Acuña Jr. being pretty ordinary. However, if the Braves lose Acuña Jr. for a significant period of time, the impacts on their roster would be real, and it would leave Atlanta with basically zero margin for error.