The Atlanta Braves have been lucky that the majority of their core has been healthy for most of the season. However, those things can change in an instant in this sport.
Atlanta fans are unfortunately getting that feeling as Ronald Acuna Jr., who is in the midst of an MVP season, left Friday's contest against the Marlins during the bottom of the eighth inning.
Acuna seemed to grimace and show discomfort as he grounded out to end the top half of the inning. It was hard to tell exactly what was bothering him. He sort of dipped his shoulder after hitting the ball and pulled up from running down the baseline.
As the game returned from commercial break, it appeared Ronald had called out for the trainer to come out to right field. They had a quick discussion with the training staff and Brian Snitker and very quickly took him out of the game.
Ronald Acuña Jr. was removed from tonight's game due to right calf tightness following this swing. pic.twitter.com/VT6tlA5V7T
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) September 16, 2023
Forrest Wall checked into the game and took over in left field. Kevin Pillar moved over to right field for the remainder of the inning.
During the bottom of the ninth, it was announced the move was a precautionary one. Acuna is dealing with some right calf tightness. With just two weeks left in the season and the playoffs coming up for the Braves, there's no reason to take any chances with the superstar outfielder.
Yes, we would love to see a 40/70 season but not at the expense of losing Acuna for an extended period of time and jeopardizing his availability in the postseason. We will report updates as they are available from the team.
Acuna is having a season for the ages and is one of the frontrunners for that NL MVP. He is batting .337/.418/.586 with a 1.004 OPS through 147 games played. He's gotten 201 hits, slugged 37 homers, driven in 98 runs, scored 135 of them, and stolen 66 bases.