To say Ronald Acuna Jr. has had bad injury luck throughout his career would be a grand understatement. The Braves outfielder has played in 100 games in just four of his nine seasons in Atlanta, and he hasn’t broken the century mark in games played since the 2023 MLB campaign. Acuna Jr. is now back on the IL with a left hamstring strain.
Below, we will deliver an injury update on Acuna and look at when he is expected to return to the Braves lineup.
Ronald Acuna Jr. injury update: When will Braves OF return?
Acuna Jr. strained his left hamstring when trying to beat a throw at first base during the fourth inning of a June 9 game against the Chicago White Sox. The Braves veteran came up limping and was visibly frustrated before leaving the contest.
An MRI revealed a Grade 1 strain.
“Grade 1, so it’s not terrible, but enough where we had to IL him,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said, according to MLB.com. “We’d be waiting around a while, playing short-handed if we were waiting for it to heal. So we went ahead and put him on the IL.”
This is the second time this season that Acuna Jr. has went to the IL with a left hamstring strain. The same injury sidelined him from May 3 to May 19. Acuna Jr. has missed 18 games so far this season.
It typically takes 1-3 weeks to recover from a Grade 1 hamstring strain. Acuna Jr. returned in relatively short order from the injury in May, as he was out just 15 days. This one seems even less mild, but the Braves will likely use some caution here considering we have already seen it pop up twice in the span of a month-and-a-half.
The best-case scenario for an Acuna Jr. return to the Atlanta lineup is probably this weekend against the Brewers. The more likely scenario is a return around June 30 against the Cardinals. The June 30 date is the start of a homestand for the Braves, and most MLB teams prefer to have returning players from injury come back at home.
Here is a look at the Braves schedule around the time that Acuna Jr. is expected to be back.
- Monday, June 22: Braves at Padres
- Tuesday, June 23: Braves at Padres
- Wednesday, June 24: Braves at Padres
- Friday, June 26: Braves at Giants
- Saturday, June 27: Braves at Giants
- Sunday, June 28: Braves at Giants
- Tuesday, June 30: Cardinals at Braves
Ronald Acuna Jr. odds
Acuna Jr., when healthy, is always in the MVP discussion. The 28-year-old began the season third on the Fanatics Sportsbook National League MVP odds board with a +1400 price. Only Shohei Ohtani (-140) and Juan Soto (+650) had shorter odds. Acuna Jr. is currently +9000 on the Fanatics NL MVP odds board, with 10 players ahead of him.
The five-time NL All-Star won NL MVP in 2023, as he hit .337 with 41 home runs and 106 RBI in 159 games played. He is off to a relatively slow start this season as he is hitting .251 with 7 home runs and 22 RBI in 53 games played.
Braves odds
The Braves began the season with +1800 odds to win the World Series, with seven teams ahead of them on the odds board. Atlanta now appears third on Fanatics’ World Series odds board with a +650 price. Only the Dodgers (+215) and Yankees (+465) have a lower number.
Weiss’ club currently has the best record in baseball at 46-25.
The Braves lead the NL East by 7.5 games over the Phillies and are -780 to win the division.
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