Dale Zanine-Imagn Photographs
The Braves have limped via the primary seven weeks of the season at far lower than full energy, notably inside their outfield, the place they misplaced Jurckon profar to an 80-game PED suspension and have taken a really gradual and deliberate strategy to Ronald Acuña Jr.’s rehabilitation from his second anterior cruciate ligament restore surgical procedure in three years. That outfield has ranked among the many majors’ least productive, offset solely by the emergence of Eli White. However a minimum of assistance is on the horizon. Acuña’s rehab stint is lastly underway, and he may return to the Atlanta lineup as quickly as this weekend.
Acuña tore his left ACL on Could 26, 2024 and underwent surgical procedure to restore it on June 4. When he returned from his 2021 tear of his proper ACL 9 months and one week after surgical procedure, he didn’t play as much as his traditional customary in ’22. The Braves resolved to take his rehab extra slowly this time round, resisting the urge to speed up his timeline even with Acuña reportedly hitting 450-foot bombs in batting apply early in spring coaching, and even with the workforce stumbling out of the gate by dropping its first seven video games and 13 of its first 18. The 27-year-old slugger lastly returned to motion final Tuesday with the Braves’ Florida Complicated League affiliate, homering off Kevin Velascoa 19-year-old righty on the Orioles’ FCL squad:
.@Ronaldacunajr24 goes yard in his first rehab begin! pic.twitter.com/e5ZFhb9jSF
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) Could 13, 2025
Acuña then moved as much as Triple-A Gwinnett, the place he went 3-for-6 with a homer and 6 walks in three video games in opposition to the Charlotte Knights, affiliate of the White Sox, from Thursday via Saturday. The homer, a 102-mph, 420-footer to lifeless middle, was hit off 25-year-old lefty Tyler Schweitzer.
The Braves haven’t introduced Acuña’s schedule for the upcoming week, but when they need to hold him near residence, he may play for his or her Double-A Columbus affiliate beginning on Tuesday. In response to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman“The belief is he’ll be activated by the point Atlanta begins its subsequent homestand on Friday in opposition to the Padres.”
It gained’t be a second too quickly for the Braves, who’ve gained 10 of their final 15 to claw their manner again to a 24-23 report. Sunday’s 10-4 victory Friday’s 4-2 victory over the Purple Sox put them above .500 for the primary time this season. They’re working third within the NL East, 5 video games out of first, and sixth within the NL Wild Card race, 4 video games behind the Giants. Their offense has scored simply 4.15 runs per sport, thirteenth within the NL, although its 98 wRC+ (.247/.319/.390) is tied for eighth; between that wRC+ and the workforce’s BaseRuns common of 4.42 runs per sport, it seems sequencing has been a major a part of the issue.
Even so, there’s no getting across the dreadful manufacturing of the Atlanta outfield, which has produced a 70 wRC+ (.231/.279/.339), tied with the Rockies for the majors’ second-worst mark; the unit’s -0.3 WAR is twenty fifth. Michael Harris IIwho has began all however one of many workforce’s 46 video games in middle subject, has drastically underperformed for no clear motive, hitting .222/.258/.339 (60 wRC+). In proper subject, what was alleged to be a platoon of Jarred Kelenic and Bryan from Cruz to cowl Acuña’s absence didn’t final lengthy, because the latter was pulled into common obligation in left subject following the April 1 suspension of Profar. In his newest stumble on the main league stage, Kelenic hit .167/.231/.300 (46 wRC+) with a 35.4% strikeout price in 65 plate appearances whereas making 20 begins in proper subject; he was optioned to Gwinnett on April 28. De La Cruz hit simply .191/.240/.213 (27 wRC+) in 50 PA earlier than being optioned to Gwinnett on April 17 after which claimed by the Yankees on Could 1. Alex Verdugowho went unsigned till March 20 after a dismal season with the Yankees, swung a scorching bat upon becoming a member of the Braves on April 20, gathering two four-hit video games inside a nine-day span, however now his 86 wRC+ (.264/.322/.340) is roughly consistent with his 83 final yr with New York. Stuart Fairchildwhom the Braves acquired from the Reds for money on March 31, has hit .103/.161/.207 (-2 wRC+) in 31 PA, and 2021 postseason hero Eddie Rosario’s return to the fold lasted only one sport earlier than he was designated for project; he’s since signed a minor league cope with the Brewers.
The one Braves outfielder who has acquitted himself properly in all of this — certainly, their just one with a wRC+ higher than Verdugo — is White, a 30-year-old righty who entered the yr with a .191/.266/.302 (59 wRC+) profession line in 448 plate appearances, and who had made simply 69 PA within the majors over the previous two seasons. He’s hit a good .284/.333/.450 for a 114 wRC+ in 118 PA.
Even this stage of success — which quantities to about 5 weeks of normal play since De La Cruz fell out of favor — has been a very long time coming for White. Drafted out of Clemson by the A’s within the eleventh spherical in 2016, he was traded to the Rangers in a three-way December 2018 deal that despatched Profar from Texas to Oakland. Plus pace, an above-average hit instrument, and the power to play a number of positions competently — together with shortstop and middle subject — made him an fascinating prospect regardless of an absence of energy, however accidents have dogged him for years. He spent elements of 2020–22 with the Rangers, however tore his UCL in September 2021 and underwent an inner brace process (not full Tommy John surgical procedure), after which on June 12, 2022, he fractured his proper wrist in an outfield collision and returned to play simply three minor league video games in September. His January 2023 commerce to the Braves didn’t change his luck; on July 6 of that season, whereas taking part in middle subject for Gwinnett, he dislocated his left shoulder and tore his labrum whereas making an attempt to make a catch, requiring season-ending surgical procedure.
White spent most of 2024 with Gwinnett, although he did get referred to as up thrice, and spent all of September within the majors. In 42 plate appearances, he hit .282/.333/.436, however his success was fueled by a .385 BABIP in a small pattern that offset a 2.8% stroll price. This yr’s slash line appears to be like comparable, however he’s on extra stable floor primarily based on his peripherals. As a result of he hasn’t proven a lot energy or performed a lot harm on the main league stage earlier than, pitchers haven’t hesitated to throw him strikes; his 57.5% zone price ranks fourth among the many 250 hitters with a minimum of 100 PA to this point. However the place he’d made contact on 78.8% of his swings on pitches within the zone previous to this season, he’s improved that to 88.3% this yr whereas slicing his strikeout price from 31.7% (cumulative pre-2025) to 22%. However even with only a 23.7% chase price, he’s walked simply 5.9% of the time, making him one thing of an outlier:
You possibly can see Verdugo — whose 59.8% zone price is the very best on the 100 PA cutoff — has the same mixture (18.1% chase price, 6.4% stroll price). These guys aren’t precisely hanging worry within the hearts of opposing pitchers, who simply pound the zone in opposition to them.
White has added some bat pace relative to final yr, bettering from 71 mph to 72.1, which locations him within the 51st percentile. His 12.4% blast price is within the 56th percentile, although his 21.2% squared-up price ranks in simply the fifteenth. All of which is to say that he doesn’t make a ton of laborious contact, and he hits the ball on the bottom more often than not — he has a 53.8% groundball price, and a mean launch angle of 4.8 levels — which a minimum of helps him reap the benefits of his 99th-percentile pace (he has six infield hits and three triples, in comparison with two homers). His 88.1-mph common exit velo, 6% barrel price, and 39.3% hard-hit price are throughout the thirtieth percentile, however even given all that, this has made for considerably extra success than he’s skilled within the majors.
Given Verdugo’s struggles, it stands to motive that White may spend extra time in left subject as soon as Acuña returns, and even perhaps spot for Harris in middle.
Other than the outfield, the Braves are getting actually subpar offense at each center infield positions. Nick Allen has supplanted Orlando Arcia at shortstop however has hit simply .260/.324/.293 (76 wRC+). Ozzie Albies is hitting simply .225/.284/.332, together with his 72 wRC+ representing a 23-point drop from final yr and a 52-point drop from 2023, when he hit 33 residence runs. Each Matt Olson (.240/.353/.444, 123 wRC+) and Austin Riley (.287/.335/.451, 117 wRC+) have produced at ranges consistent with final yr, which represented substantial steps down from their large 2023 performances (54 homers and a 161 wRC+ for Olson, 37 homers and a 128 wRC+ for Riley). All of that has made it simpler to pitch round Marcell Ozunawhose stroll price has almost doubled from final yr’s 10.8% to twenty.7%; he’s hit .267/.420/.467 (150 wRC+). With out Acuña, and with Harris struggling so mightily, all of these declines stand out extra.
The return of Acuña ought to assist, and likewise so ought to that of Spencer strides. Restricted to 2 begins final yr earlier than present process UCL inner brace surgical procedure, the 26-year-old righty returned to the Braves on April 16, however he made only one begin earlier than straining his proper hamstring whereas taking part in catch, an damage that’s value him greater than a month. After optioning fifth starter Bryce Elder on Friday, the Braves activated Strider on Monday and can begin him in opposition to the Nationals on Tuesday. They’ll want higher play from a number of of their hitters to capitalize on an NL East race that has tightened — the Mets’ 3 1/2-game lead initially of Could has dwindled to half a sport forward of the Phillies — however a minimum of the Braves have dug themselves out of a gap and are beginning to look entire once more.
