Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. Out for the season with a torn left ACL

National League champion Ronald Acuña Jr. tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Sunday and will miss the rest of the season, a major blow to an Atlanta Braves team that has already lost its star player, Spencer Strider, for 2024.

Acuña collapsed between second and third base during the first inning of the Braves’ game against the Pittsburgh Pirates after buckling his left knee on a late steal attempt. An MRI revealed a torn left ACL, which comes less than three years after Acuña suffered the same injury to his right knee while jumping to catch in right field.

Acuña, 26, is considered one of the best players in Major League Baseball and a franchise player for the Braves who entered the season as the second most likely player to win the World Series. Despite losing Acuña in 2021, the Braves rallied to sneak into the postseason with 88 wins and qualified for their fourth tournament.

Atlanta won a major league-best 104 games last season as Acuña hit .337/.416/.596 with 41 home runs, 106 RBI and 73 stolen bases. Never before had a player finished a season with at least 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases, a feat that earned Acuña a unanimous MVP award. The Braves fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in the division series for the second straight season.

Acuña entered the 2024 season with accordingly high expectations — and like many of his Braves teammates, he struggled through the first third of the season to reach them. In 49 games, Acuña hit .250/.351/.365 with 4 home runs, 15 RBI, and 16 stolen bases while playing below-average defense.

Before the team announced that Acuña would miss the season, he told reporters that the injury was less serious than the one he suffered in 2018.

“[I] “You don’t feel that pain, any popping or anything,” Acuña said. “…Don’t think it’s that bad.”

After the team was announced, Acuña put A A one-word post on social media“Sorry” is accompanied by a broken heart and crying emoji.

Sorry💔😪

– Ronald Acuña Jr. (@ronaldacunajr24) May 27, 2024

The loss of Acuña — who led off Sunday’s 8-1 win over the Pirates with a double — is still a crushing blow for a Braves team whose offense has disappeared after posting a record .501 slugging percentage last season. While designated hitter Marcell Ozuna was one of the best hitters in baseball, Atlanta’s other starting hitters — first baseman Matt Olson, second baseman Ozzie Albies, third baseman Austin Riley and center fielder Michael Harris II — all had a lower OPS. From 0.750. .

Still, Atlanta’s pitching raises a 30-20 record, tied for second in the National League with the Los Angeles Dodgers and 38-16 behind the Phillies, who are six games ahead of the Braves in the National League East and own the best mark in the MLB.

The Braves received a breakout performance from left-hander Chris Sale — whom they acquired in a trade over the winter — as well as the signing of free agent Reynaldo Lopez, whose 1.75 ERA is third-best in the National League. Atlanta needed both to step up after Strider, the 25-year-old who led baseball with 281 hits last season, underwent Tommy John surgery in April.

Acuña burst onto the scene as a 20-year-old in 2018 and won the NL Rookie of the Year award after hitting .293/.366/.552 with 26 home runs. Before the following season, he signed an eight-year, $100 million contract extension that included two club options, and was quickly considered the most team-friendly deal in the sport.

Acuña expressed hope last winter that he could sign a new extension that would pay him more in line with the best players in the sport, but talks never got far. Acuña does not currently have an agent representing him on a baseball team, but he recently signed with Rimas Sports — whose lead agent was recently certified by the MLB Players Association — to handle his marketing and endorsements.