Ronald Acuña Jr. ruled out for season with torn ACL

Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL, the team announced last night.

Acuña suffered a complete torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the first inning of last night’s 8-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Acu​​ña took a big lead to steal third, but turned around when Pirates catcher Joey Bart went to throw the ball to pitcher Martín Pérez, tearing his ACL. The injury was confirmed by an MRI after the match.

This will be Acuña’s second major knee injury at just 26 years old after he tore his right ACL in 2021, missing half of this season and a significant portion of the 2022 season. The Braves won the World Series this year -there, but the team would certainly prefer not to try to do it again with deadline acquisitions. In addition to missing Acuña, Atlanta is also without star pitcher Spencer Strider, who underwent right elbow surgery earlier in the season, and the team has a number of players on its injured list (IL).

“I hate it for the young guys, it affects more than just us,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said after the game when asked how the injuries have affected the team. “These guys love to play and when something happens like that, I hate it.”

While Acuña’s season hadn’t been as good as his previous one, where he was the NL MVP and the first player to hit more than 40 home runs and total more than 70 stolen bases in a single season, his offensive production had resumed. in recent games, with four of his extra base hits coming in his last 31 at-bats.

His injury is another blow to a Braves team that is six games behind the Phillies and was supposed to be ready for another World Series appearance. Acuña will likely be replaced by Adam Duvall in right field and Atlanta could call up Forrest Wall from Triple-A Gwinnett to replace Acuña’s hitter.

GET MORE LOCAL SPORTS NEWS: Subscribe to Sideline, a weekly sports newsletter. Click here.