The 2024 season has been a nightmare in the injury department for the Atlanta Braves. On late Sunday evening the Braves got the worst news of the season yet. Once again their superstar franchise player, Ronald Acuña Jr. has suffered a season-ending knee injury. News doesn't come much tougher than that.
OF Ronald Acuña Jr. tonight underwent an MRI that revealed a complete tear of the ACL in his left knee. He is set to undergo surgery at a date yet to be determined and will miss the remainder of the 2024 season.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 27, 2024
Atlanta already suffered the loss of one of the best pitchers in baseball in Spencer Strider. But now they will be without their best position player for the rest of the season as well. After the loss of these two key pieces, the Braves know their championship hopes have taken a major hit.
Ronald Acuña Jr. will miss the remainder of the season
The Braves were hoping for the best when Acuña Jr. flew back after the game to get testing done on the knee. However, it wasn't meant to be as the results revealed a complete tear of the ACL in his left knee.
Somewhat of a silver lining is the fact that is NOT the knee that Acuna tore his ACL in during the 2021 season. That doesn't soften the sting of this injury for Braves fans though.
Perhaps the only thing keeping Braves fans sane at this point is the knowledge that the 2021 Braves went on to win the World Series without Ronald Acuna Jr. that year. However, the 2024 Braves are a different team and the loss of Acuna certainly makes the dream of winning a World Series immensely more difficult.
It took a magical trade deadline in 2021 to spur the Braves, and I'm sure Alex Anthopoulos and company will do all they can to give the '24 Braves a good shot at lifting the Commissioner's Trophy. Sadly, first the Braves have to adjust on the fly and see who can help jumpstart this team that sits with a 30-20 record.
2023 was a season full of historic accomplishments for Ronald Acuna Jr. Fans thought 2024 would be more of the same. Unfortunately, the baseball gods have yet to shine down upon Atlanta much at all this season. Hopefully, we eventually see the tides turn and get a repeat of 2021.
The game of baseball suffers because of this injury to Ronald Acuna Jr. All Braves fans can do now is hope for a speedy recovery, and await the joy Ronald Acuna Jr. brings us on the baseball diamond in 2025.