"Win another MVP” - Ronald Acuna Jr. eyeing strong return next season after being sidelined for the rest of 2024 due to season-ending surgery
With their star slugger Ronald Acuna Jr. out for the rest of the season because of an injury he suffered earlier this week, the Atlanta Braves have a huge crisis to solve.
The 26-year-old OF, during his team's game vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, tore his ACL while trying to steal a base. This, however, isn't the first time the 2023 NL MVP has faced this injury. In 2021, he tore his right ACL.
Ronald Acuna Jr. is set to have another surgery and will be out for the rest of the season. However, the player seems quite optimistic about making an impactful return next season. Acuna Jr. said if he heals perfectly, he would probably look to have another MVP season.
"Maybe I can comeback and win another MVP" - Ronald Acuna Jr (via Fox Sports: MLB's X handle).
The four-time All-Star has played 49 games this season. In the 192 at-bats he had, he hit four home runs and 15 RBIs, with a batting average of .250 and OPS of .716. Braves have had a decent start to the new season so far. They are currently in the second position of the NL East table with a 31-23 record.
Losing out a player of Acuna Jr.'s stature for the rest of the season is surely going to be a huge loss for the team. Braves would now need to find a way out to move on with this situation, but they would surely hope to get Acuna Jr. back as soon as he recovers.
Ronald Acuna Jr. recalls initial surprise after suffering second ACL injury
Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. has revealed that he was initially surprised when his recent injury turned out to be another ACL injury. The player first thought it to be a sprain. However, the scans revealed it was much worse than that.
"I was fairly surprised, because obviously, it's your body, you're the one kind of feeling through the pains. And that was sort of what it felt like, it felt like I was probably gonna be out for that duration that I said. Yeah, I was surprised to hear that it was torn," he said (via Bleacher Report).
This is the second ACL injury he faced in the past four years. In 2021, when he faced a similar situation, he was out of action for nine months and returned to the pitch after missing 20 games of the following season. But he had a drastic fall in his form when he returned.