ATLANTA — During the Atlanta Braves’ gripping 4-3 triumph over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night, Ronald Acuña Jr. took note of an incident when Jarred Kelenic was tagged out at second base. Kelenic had failed to sprint out of the batter’s box on what seemed to be a promising hit.
The following day, Acuña turned to social media, expressing his disapproval regarding manager Brian Snitker’s response to the situation. As Acuña recuperates from his surgery following a torn ACL in his left knee last year, he replied to a post by Mark Bowman, an MLB.com reporter, on X. The post involved speculation about Snitker’s remarks relating to Kelenic. Bowman noted that Snitker seemed to downplay the incident by saying “‘Was I supposed to'” when questioned about addressing Kelenic’s hustle. Reacting to this, Acuña posted, “If it were me, they would take me out of the game.” However, this post was taken down within an hour.
Snitker, discussing the matter after Sunday’s 6-2 victory over the Twins, admitted he was unaware that Kelenic had not hustled properly until later. He stated, “There’s no blanket thing,” when referring to his stance on benching players for lack of effort. Snitker added he was not focusing on Kelenic’s play when it unfolded, only realizing the lack of hustle after watching the footage on Sunday morning and subsequently addressing it with Kelenic.
Kelenic had hit a drive that rebounded from the right-field wall, only for Trevor Larnach to throw him out at second base. Back in 2019, Acuña faced a similar situation when he didn’t promptly leave the batter’s box, resulting in a long single off the wall during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Snitker removed him from the game shortly after, emphasizing the importance of team over individual actions. He maintained, “You’ve got to run. It’s not going to be acceptable here.”
Reflecting on his stance about these situations, Snitker reinforced his 2019 comment on the need for hustle, stating, “Yeah, if you don’t run and it’s a big time like that then yeah.” However, he noted that Kelenic’s full-on playing style generally doesn’t warrant such concerns. Snitker handled the matter directly with Kelenic after reviewing the play.
When questioned about Acuña’s social media remarks, Snitker commented he hadn’t viewed the post or discussed it with Acuña since its deletion. Instead, Snitker preferred to focus on the positive momentum, with the Braves having won three consecutive games, including the series sweep.
Acuña is undergoing regular evaluations for his knee as he advances through his rehabilitation program. He may make his return to the Braves’ lineup by next month. Despite his abbreviated season last year, where he managed a .250 average and four home runs, Acuña’s prowess was evident in 2019 when he was crowned the National League MVP with a stellar 41 home runs, 73 steals, paired with a .337 batting average.
With Kelenic currently sporting a meager .180 batting average and securing only one hit on Sunday, his starting position may be at risk as Acuña inches closer to full health. In contrast, new lead-off batter and left fielder Alex Verdugo has made a solid impression, contributing substantially to the team’s recent victories, including going four-for-four and securing a go-ahead RBI on Saturday night.