Atanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. told reporters through an interpreter that he was “fairly surprised” to learn the injury he suffered Sunday was an ACL tear.
Acuña initially believed he had suffered a sprain that would require a month of recovery rather than a season-ending tear, per Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Yeah, I was fairly surprised, because obviously, it’s your body, you’re the one kind of feeling through the pains,” Acuña said via interpreter Franco García, per Toscano. “And that was sort of what it felt like, it felt like I was probably gonna be out for that duration that I said. Yeah, I was surprised to hear that it was torn.”
Acuña suffered the second torn ACL injury of his career during the first inning of a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is set to undergo surgery Tuesday.
An MRI after the game revealed that Acuña suffered a completely torn ACL in his left knee, Mark Bowman reported for MLB.com.
The reigning National League MVP previously tore the ACL in his opposite knee midway through the 2021 season, an injury which also necessitated surgery and a nine month recovery.
Acuña returned from his previous ACL injury 20 games into the following season, but at times appeared visibly limited and posted some of the slowest running speeds of his MLB career.
That raised some questions about whether Acuña could return to his former high level of play—until he erased those doubts by returning fully healthy in 2023 and becoming the first player in MLB history to top 40 home runs and 70 steals in a single season.
The Braves star told reporters the main thing he learned from his previously recovery process was patience, Toscano reported.
“I think that’s the main thing that I would take away from the last go-around,” Acuña said. “I felt like I was antsy and anxious to get back on the field, and I felt very excited to kind of go back and play.
“For this go-around, I’m just gonna let things develop how they’re supposed to. I’m gonna continue to work hard, train, rehab, get stronger, and then when the team says I’m ready to go, I’ll be ready to go.”
Acuña said he plans to stay in Los Angeles for at least one month after the surgery in order to begin rehabbing the surgically repaired knee, per MLB.com’s Joe Trezza.
The Braves currently sit second in the NL East, but will face a more difficult climb to the World Series after losing both Acuña and starting pitcher Spencer Strider to season-ending injuries.
