Ronald Acuña Jr. cleared another hurdle, and an outfield wall, in what was his first game in nearly a full calendar year.
Acuña began his Minor League rehab assignment by going 1-for-3 with a homer for the Braves’ Florida Complex League team in its game against the Orioles’ FCL team on Tuesday night at CoolToday Park in North Port, Fla. The 2023 National League Most Valuable Player ended his performance with a fifth-inning homer that easily cleared the center-field wall.
Acuña was limited to three plate appearances in what was his first game since he tore his right anterior cruciate ligament during a May 26, 2024 game in Pittsburgh. He played right field until coming out of the game before the start of the seventh.
The Braves will gradually increase Acuña’s workload like they do with all players during the early portion of the Spring Training schedule.
The Braves haven’t provided any clues regarding how many games Acuña could play before being activated.
A position player can’t stay on a rehab stint more than 20 days. So barring any setbacks, Acuña will be activated by June 1. But there’s certainly reason to anticipate an earlier return to Atlanta’s lineup.
Acuña has been taking batting practice and completing other baseball drills going all the way back to the start of Spring Training. But he wasn’t permitted to cut while running or do some outfield drills until he visited Dr. Neal ElAttrache last month.