On Tuesday night, Atlanta Braves superstar outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. was forced to leave the game against the Kansas City Royals early. The injury was classified as a left groin strain, and all Braves fans (and baseball fans alike) held their breath.
Here’s what happened in Kansas City:
Acuna appeared to injure himself on a fly ball in the bottom of the second and was subbed out in the next half inning. He went 0-1 in his lone at-bat and said after the game he thought he could’ve stayed in the game.
Now, Acuña Jr. is being shut down for the remainder of the regular season. This comes to us from Atlanta Braves beat writer from the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Gabe Burns. Here is the tweet:
Ronald Acuña is shut down for remainder of regular season. He’ll be good for NLDS. Braves playing it safe.
— Gabe Burns (@GabeBurnsAJC) September 25, 2019
What this means is Acuña’s bid for a 40-40 season (40 home runs, 40 stolen bases) will fall just short. Right now, Acuña has 41 home runs and 37 steals. While he would have been the fourth player ever to accomplish that feat, he became one of the youngest players in the history of the sport to eclipse 40 homers.
Acuña followed up a Rookie of the Year Award winning campaign in 2018 with a season that could see him getting MVP votes in 2019.
Now, Atlanta will look towards the NLDS where they will face the St. Louis Cardinals in all likelihood. Equally important, Freddie Freeman is also nursing a sore elbow and sitting out games currently. Once thought to be a heavyweight in the National league alongside the Los Angeles Dodgers – injuries to Acuña Jr. and Freeman could drastically change the course for this team.
Finally, Acuña had a decent postseason showing in his rookie campaign. Atlanta was beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers in four games in a 2018 NLDS series. Still, Acuña hitting a grand slam off superstar Walker Buehler in Atlanta in the lone Braves win was a marquee moment in the series.
This is one of baseball’s most phenomenal young talents who could be considered ‘generational’. Let’s hope for the sake of the sport and a good postseason that needs ratings and viewers that he mends back to full health in the next few days.
