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PITTSBURGH — Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. will miss the rest of the season after he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Sunday’s 8-1 victory at Pittsburgh.
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The reigning NL MVP led off the game with a double to right-centre field off Martin Perez. With Marcell Ozuna at the plate, Acuna started toward third on a stolen base attempt and his left knee gave way. Acuna remained down for several minutes while being treated, pointing at his left leg before walking off under his own power.
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“(I) don’t feel that painful, any pop or anything. … Don’t think it’s that bad,” Acuna said.
Acuna said he was looking to take third when he anticipated a slow throw back to the mound from catcher Joey Bart. The toss came in harder than expected, leading to an abrupt pivot back to second with his knee twisting.
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Acuna is batting .250 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 49 games. The four-time all-star hit a career-best .337 last season with 41 homers and 106 RBIs.
Atlanta already was missing all-star right-hander Spencer Strider, whose season ended on April 13 when he had internal brace surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. Third baseman Austin Riley is day to day with a left intercostal strain, and catcher Sean Murphy remains on the 10-day injured list with an oblique injury after he got hurt on opening day.
“It’s just something that everybody goes through,” Snitker said before the results of Acuna’s MRI were announced. “We’ve been through it before. Personally, I just hate it for the young men that it affects more than us. These guys love to play the game. When something happens to those guys, I hate it for the individuals more than us, quite honestly.”
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