As soon as Ronald Acuña Jr. left Sunday's game early against the Pirates, Atlanta Braves fans have been holding their collective breath. While Acuña Jr. isn't having the season that many thought he was going to have in 2024, he remains a critical piece of the Braves' lineup. Non-contact injuries like that are seldom good news especially when a guy drops the ground and immediately has to leave the game.
After the game, Braves manager Brian Snitker said that the team won't have any official update on Acuna Jr. until the team flies back to Atlanta. However, Acuña Jr. was more candid when he said that he is definitely headed to the injured list with a left knee injury.
Acuña says the discomfort is more like he felt in 2018. He wouldn’t be surprised if he misses a month.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 26, 2024
Braves News: Acuna Jr. is fully expecting to be on the injured list for a while, but also gives fans some hope
So there are a few things that are important to note here. One, this is not the same knee that he had surgery on back in 2021 nor the one that gave him meniscus trouble in spring training. In some ways, it is positive that his repaired knee still appears to be fine, although him having trouble with both of his knees is also not ideal.
Second, Acuña Jr. has dealt with his fair share of knee ailments at this point and he feels like this one is more akin to the hyperextension he suffered during his rookie season which cost him around a month of playing time than his more major knee injury in 2021. This should let fans at least feel some optimism in the short term. However, it doesn't mean anything until doctors actually look at him, but hope is fine for now.
That said, Acuña Jr. being out for a while is likely to mean that we are going to be seeing a lot more of Adam Duvall as he is the easiest guy to slot into his place on the roster. The Braves are likely to call up a guy like Forrest Wall to play back-up in the meantime, but a Kelenic/Harris/Duvall outfield alignment could be what Braves fans see for at least the next month if not longer.