ATLANTA -- Braves manager Brian Snitker and pitcher Chris Sale both playfully said something like, “We should have expected it,” when talking about Ronald Acuña Jr. homering on Friday night against the first pitch he saw in nearly a full calendar year.
Acuña actually didn’t seem surprised after hitting a 467-foot leadoff homer in the Braves’ 2-1 loss to the Padres at Truist Park. This was his first plate appearance in the 362 days that had passed since he tore his left anterior cruciate ligament. But special players expect to do special things.
“I mentioned to my brothers that I was thinking or hoping that I might homer, but I didn’t want to focus too much on that,” Acuña said through an interpreter.
Homer at some point during the game, or in that first plate appearance?
“Exactly how it happened,” Acuña said.
When Acuña turned on Nick Pivetta’s 93.1 mph fastball and sent it halfway up the seats beyond the left-center field wall, he became the first player in AL/NL history hit a leadoff homer in their first at-bat after missing at least 150 games.
But nobody seemed to be shocked.
“You had a packed house of a bunch of Braves fans probably halfway expecting something like that to happen,” Sale said. “That just kind of goes to who he is as a player and the electricity he can create on his own. That was one of the cooler moments I’ve seen on the baseball field.”
Acuña added a single and displayed his rocket arm with a few throws, one that denied Elias Diaz’s bid to stretch a single to a double in the eighth. Sale added to the special occasion as he allowed just one run over seven innings. But Raisel Iglesias allowed a ninth-inning homer to Manny Machado, and Eli White’s baserunning mistake in the bottom of the inning erased the hope of a celebratory postgame mood.
“I haven’t been able to play with my teammates in over a year, and I haven’t played in front of the fans in over a year,” Acuña said. “It was great to be out there. But ultimately we lost, and that's all that matters.”
Acuña provided a glimpse of the incredible power he still possesses after undergoing major surgery on both knees within the past four years. His franchise-record 35th career leadoff homer traveled farther (a Statcast-projected 467 feet) than any other ball hit by a Braves player this year.
The solo shot had an exit velocity of 115.5 mph, making it also the hardest-hit ball by a Braves player this year.
“He’s one of those players where you better not go get a beer or anything because you might miss something cool,” Snitker said. “He’s that kind of force in the game. He’s going to energize everybody.”
Acuña won the 2023 National League MVP Award after becoming the first player to hit 40-plus homers and steal 70-plus bases in a season. The 27-year-old right fielder is confident he can provide the same level of dynamic production.
“He seems like he’s locked in,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley said. “I mean, he loves the game of baseball. He's excited, like I said, the energy that he brings. We're all pumped for him. It's a tough, tough battle coming back from an injury like that. And he's put in the work to be in really good shape. So now we're all excited.”
There was some uncertainty about Acuña’s return date until Wednesday, when he played nine innings for Triple-A Gwinnett and told the Braves he felt ready. The plan was for him to play one more rehab game. But the team altered plans early Thursday evening as Acuña was preparing to take pregame batting practice in Louisville.
“Honestly, last night, I felt like I couldn't sleep very much,” Acuña said through an interpreter. “I woke up early this morning and felt like I just couldn't wait to get to the stadium. I’m very happy.”
Acuña is hoping this return proves to be smoother than the one he experienced in 2022, when he was activated from the injured list less than 10 months after tearing his right ACL on July 10, 2021. He patiently progressed through a far more conservative rehab process over the past year.
“If it wasn’t for the first go around, I probably would have rushed the process and been back sooner,” Acuña said. “But I wouldn’t have been ready to play the way I am. This time, we took our time, and I’m fully recovered.”