The Braves are receiving an MVP-sized jolt in hopes of lastly performing as much as expectations.
Atlanta activated former NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. for Friday evening’s house sport towards the Padres, welcoming him again after he missed a lot of the 2024 season with an ACL tear.
His return comes two days earlier than the one-year anniversary of him tearing his ACL towards the Pirates final yr.
Atlanta designed for project former beginning shortstop Orlando Arcia in a stunning corresponding transfer.
“Tonight: RONALD RETURNS!” the Braves tweeted Friday morning above a spotlight clip earlier than asserting the transfer slightly after 12 p.m. ET.
The Braves (24-25) have been considered one of baseball’s most disappointing groups by roughly the first-third of the season, wanting little just like the contender they had been anticipated to be.
Inserting Acuna again into the lineup ought to present an enormous carry contemplating he’s one of many sport’s greatest gamers when wholesome.
Acuna, 27, earned MVP honors in 2023 by turning into the primary participant in MLB historical past to hit not less than 40 homers and notch not less than 70 steals within the season.
He tallied 41 house runs and 73 steals whereas slashing .337/.416/.596 with a career-high 1.012 OPS.
The 2024 marketing campaign began gradual for Acuna, with only a .716 OPS, earlier than he tore his ACL final yr whereas on the bases towards the Pirates.
He stopped whereas making an attempt to bluff a steal of third earlier than crumpling to the bottom with the damage.
Acuna beforehand tore his proper ACL in the course of the 2021 season.
The outfielder underwent surgical procedure on June 6, and the Braves reached the playoffs with out him, although they might not win the NL East for the seventh straight season.
The Padres then rapidly dumped them within the playoffs with a two-game sweep.
The Braves’ offense has been unspectacular this yr with out Acuna, rating seventeenth in runs scored, 14th in slugging share and thirteenth in OPS.
Acuna hit .400 spanning six video games and 15 at-bats within the minors earlier than the workforce cleared him to return, including two homers in that stretch.
As Acuna returns, Arcia is the odd man out.
Arcia seemingly rotated his profession with the Braves, posting the two-best OPS+ figures of his profession from 2022-23, however it’s been all downhill since.
He tallied a .625 OPS this yr and had a .445 OPS this season whereas dropping taking part in time to Nick Allen.
The Braves rewarded him with a three-year, $7.3 million exntesion heading into the 2023 season and can now to pay a $1 million buyout for the 2026 marketing campaign.
Atlanta sits in third place within the NL East, 7 1/2 video games behind the division-leading Phillies and 5 video games behind the Mets.
