The face of the franchise gets closer and closer to returning to big league action.
Tuesday was a big day in the world of the Atlanta Braves — before the team finally reached .500 for the first time since Opening Day, there were reports that Ronald Acuña Jr. was set to begin a rehab assignment. Sure enough, he was out there on Tuesday evening playing for the FCL Braves and hitting moonshots right away.
.@ronaldacunajr24 goes yard in his first rehab start! pic.twitter.com/e5ZFhb9jSF
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 13, 2025
Garrett Spain made sure to note in his recap that this would be Acuña’s one and only rehab appearance for the FCL Braves and sure enough, that appears to be the case. Ronald Acuña Jr. spoke with Daniel Álvarez-Montest of El Extra Base following last night’s game and confirmed that his next rehab start would happen on this coming Thursday with Triple-A Gwinnett.
¡Cada vez más cerca de volver!
Ronald Acuña Jr. conversó en exclusiva con #ElExtrabase luego de su primer juego de rehabilitación.
El OF venezolano conectó jonrón en su tercer turno. Nos dijo que se unirá el jueves a la sucursal AAA en Gwinnett. #ElExtrabase⚾️ pic.twitter.com/1LKNEfpLUa
— El Extrabase ⚾️ (@ElExtrabase) May 14, 2025
The interview is en Español but Álvarez confirmed the important parts in a follow-up tweet:
Ronald Acuña Jr. told me that he will fly to Atlanta tomorrow morning. He is likely to join the AAA-Gwinnett affiliate on Thursday to continue with his rehab. Doesn’t have a debut date yet, but he’s getting closer.
— Daniel Álvarez-Montes (@DanielAlvarezEE) May 14, 2025
While it would be a bit fanciful to assume that Atlanta’s lineup will simply start clicking the moment that Acuña returns to the fold, it’s still very clear that the Braves are probably counting the days until he can officially come back. Atlanta currently has the 28th-best outfield (there’s 30 teams, y’all) when it comes to wRC+, as Braves outfielders have collectively hit .229/.273/.344 with a .271 wOBA and 70 wRC+. Ronald Acuña Jr. is a career .289/.379/.525 hitter with a .384 wOBA and a career average of 141 wRC+.
Again, while it’s tough to imagine that he’ll simply return to form upon making it back from injury, it’s also safe to say that his return will be highly anticipated around here. Hopefully his rehab stint with Gwinnett will be a quick but productive one that’ll allow him to take the final steps needed to get back between the lines for the Braves on a regular basis.