Ronald Acuna Jr. appears to be fine now after suffering a scare on Monday’s game against the New York Mets.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Atlanta Braves outfielder was pegged with a fastball that came from Tylor Megill in the first inning of the second game of the doubleheader.
The 93-mile-per-hour pitch hit him in the left shoulder and he stayed down in pain for a significant amount of time and did not move his injured arm.
“At the moment I thought it was something more serious because I couldn’t move my arm,” Acuna told reporters today.
“But thankfully everything is OK.”
While it was a scare and enough to make Braves fans hold their breath, X-Rays came back negative and he is considered day-to-day with a shoulder contusion.
Additionally, the injury appears to be so minor that the Braves penciled him into the lineup for Tuesday’s opener against the Miami Marlins.
He batted leadoff.
So that’s a huge relief for the Braves, as Acuna is off to a hot start to 2023.
He is hitting 363 .450 .584 (batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage).
Also, Acuna has knocked in five home runs including a 448-foot moonshot against the Mets on Monday.
In 2018, Acuna won the NL Rookie of the Year award.
While the 25-year-old is one of the best young hitters in the game – he has had issues staying on the field.
In July 2021, Acuna suffered a torn ACL, causing him to miss the rest of that season.
While he returned the year after, the injury lingered into 2022.
He only played 119 games and posted a career-worst .351 on-base percentage in 2022.
But now Acuna appears back to his old self and perhaps has a shot at the NL MVP in 2023.
