Braves’ Acuna ‘worried,’ IL-bound due to Achilles

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. was removed from Tuesday night’s loss at Kansas City with tightness in his right Achilles tendon and will be placed on the 10-day injured list.

Acuna experienced the discomfort after chasing down a ball in right field. He’ll be evaluated further Wednesday.

“It’s an Achilles thing, it’s going to take a while,” manager Brian Snitker said after the Braves fell 9-6 to the Royals. “He’ll go on the IL, and hopefully in 10 days or so it’ll clear up.”

Acuna said he initially felt pain while running the bases Monday night.

“It happened when I scored from first to home on that play,” Acuna said through an interpreter. “They are going to examine me tomorrow, so we’ll see how it goes.”

The discomfort returned after Acuna ran for a foul ball in the sixth inning. Later in the inning, a ball was hit over his head, and he gave chase. He left the game after the sixth.

“It was hurting even more,” Acuna said. “I was kind of out there hoping they wouldn’t hit it my way, and of course any time you do that, they always hit it your way.”

Acuna said the pain was worse than it was Monday.

“I told them yesterday, and everyone said, ‘Take the day if you want it, you can have the day off,'” Acuna said. “I’ve missed so much time already through injuries, I didn’t want to miss any more time.”

Acuna, a five-time All-Star and the 2023 National League MVP, missed most of last season with a torn left ACL.

“It’s an injury; I’m worried,” Acuna said. “It’s more pain, but it feels kind of, I feel it a lot when I try to put pressure on it.”

The Braves (45-61) have dealt with numerous injuries during their disappointing season.

“It’s just like, Ozzie [Albies] hit a ball into the dirt and it went in his eye,” Snitker said. “I was worried that that was an oblique the way he reacted there. I don’t know, it’s just one of those things, you just have to deal with it. It’s not fun dealing with it, not easy dealing with it, but you just have to.”

Acuna walked off the field before a trainer followed him into the locker room.

The outfielder is batting .306 with 14 homers and 26 RBIs in 55 games this season. He went 2-for-4 with a homer Monday night.

Snitker said Eli White will play right field in Acuna’s absence.