Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. has missed his team’s last three games with a right groin injury suffered in Tuesday’s game with the Red Sox, but it doesn’t appear to be a significant issue. After undergoing an MRI today, Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Bowman) that imaging revealed “nothing big” about the injury.
“It’s the best news possible….He’s just going to be day to day,” Snitker said. “I don’t know how long it will be. But there’s nothing from the MRI that showed he’s going to be shut down.”
In other positive news, Snitker said that Acuna’s issues are just with his groin, not with the ACL that was torn last July. Acuna has played in only 10 games since returning from that long injury rehab, but hasn’t missed a beat in hitting .282/.391/.487 over 46 plate appearances.
It’s possible Acuna could be back in Atlanta’s lineup for Monday’s game against the Brewers, as Snitker indicated that the outfielder probably won’t play on Sunday. Bowman noted that the team doesn’t yet seem to be considering a trip to the 10-day injured list, though one would imagine if Acuna was still unavailable Monday, the Braves might make a move to keep them from being shorthanded for yet another game.
The silver lining of Acuna’s absence is that Travis Demeritte and William Contreras have both been on a tear at the plate, but naturally Atlanta needs Acuna back healthy as quickly as possible. Shared struggles from Adam Duvall, Marcell Ozuna, and (the injured) Eddie Rosario have meant that the Braves haven’t gotten much from their outfield mix this season. Braves outfielders have combined for -0.7 fWAR this season, tied with the A’s for the lowest total among outfield corps in the majors.
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