On Wednesday night, Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. made news after he went on Instagram Live with Yancen Pujols and talked about losing Freddie Freeman. Acuña said that he will not miss Freeman this year because the two “clashed.”
Later at night, Acuña tweeted that he didn’t say what people thought he was saying.
On Thursday, Acuña clarified what he meant by saying his words were being taken out of context.
“I think the reporters exaggerated,” he said through a translator. “I didn’t say anything bad about Freeman. I talked about what happened in 2018 when I came up as a rookie, the rest was blown out of proportion.”
The 2018 incident he referenced was when he claimed Braves veterans tried to “keep him in check” by wiping eye black off his face. When asked if he and Freeman had a good relationship, Acuña said not really in part because of this incident.
“I’d say that we didn’t because of what happened, but that’s in the past,” he said.
Despite believing that his words were taken out of context, Acuña doesn’t regret anything he said on Wednesday.
“I don’t regret it, he signed with another team,” he said. “[The reporter] asked me what I would miss about him. What should I miss about someone who’s on another team?”
Finally, Acuña doesn’t feel he has to speak with or apologize to Freeman for his comments.
“I didn’t say anything bad about him, I didn’t disrespect him. I will repeat myself. I talked about what happened in 2018, that was in the past. It was a normal interview, it was exaggerated by the media.”
After 12 years in Atlanta, Freeman signed a six-year deal with the Dodgers, and the Braves replaced him by trading for and extending first baseman Matt Olson.
