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Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. plans to play through the “terrible” pain in his right knee until his team’s season ends.
Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked Acuña how his knee was feeling after Atlanta’s 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.
“Terrible,” Acuña replied. “But we’re going to play through it until the season is over.”
Acuña has missed games here and there over the past month for various reasons. He had lower body soreness (Aug. 7), right knee soreness (Aug. 14) and more right knee concerns that led to a pair of missed games versus the St. Louis Cardinals (Aug. 27 and 28) and one versus Colorado (Aug. 30).
He returned to the lineup Wednesday and went 1-for-4 with a solo home run. For the season, Acuña is hitting .274 (.779 OPS) with 11 home runs and 36 RBI in 92 games.
Any injury to Acuña is sure to be concerning for Atlanta both because of his overall importance to the team and his recent history.
He suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during the 2021 season and was limited to 82 games, missing the team’s championship run. He also suffered a foot injury during a June game against the Los Angeles Dodgers this year and needed a medical scooter because he struggled to put pressure on it.
When healthy, Acuña is one of the leaders for the Braves as a three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger who can impact the game with his power at the plate and speed on the basepaths and in the field.
Atlanta is accustomed to playing without him from its run to the end of the 2021 campaign, but it is still far more dangerous when he is in the lineup.
It appears he’ll stay there for the time being as Atlanta continues its quest to overtake the first-place New York Mets in the National League East.
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