A sight the Atlanta Braves and their fans never want to see occurred on Tuesday night during the club's 9-6 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Superstar outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. was forced to exit the game in the bottom of the sixth inning after he attempted to pursue a fly ball in foul territory and came up limping. Acuna jogged off the field under his own power, but the Braves star did not return to the game with what the team called right Achilles tightness.
After the contest, a tearful Acuna told reporters that he had initially felt pain while running the bases during Monday's game, but that he had wanted to play because of the time he had missed earlier in the season. Acuna missed much of the first two months of the season while recovering from knee surgery.
Braves manager Brian Snitker had this to say regarding Acuna's injury after Tuesday's game.
"It's an Achilles thing, it's going to take a while," Snitker said. "He'll go on the IL, and hopefully in 10 days or so it'll clear up."
The Braves on Wednesday placed Acuna on the 10-day injured list with right Achilles tendon inflammation. This means that he'll be sidelined a minimum of 10 days. But how much time could the Braves slugger actually miss?
When can Ronald Acuna Jr. return from Achilles injury?
Acuna could return within the next two-to-three weeks, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. However, it's worth noting that Acuna, who plays as hard as any player in the majors, has a serious injury history. He has suffered two season-ending ACL tears, one in his right knee in 2021 and the left knee this past season.
As such, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Braves take things very slowly with Acuna, particularly given that the 2025 iteration of the team has massively underachieved and is currently 13.5 games back of the third wild card in the National League.
Acuna, who was named an NL All-Star for the fifth time in his career this season, has posted a .306/.429/.577 slash line with 14 home runs, 26 RBI, 48 runs scored and four stolen bases in 55 games played.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ronald Acuna Jr. Injury Timeline: When Could Braves Star Return From IL? .
