The Braves are receiving an MVP-sized jolt in hopes of finally performing up to expectations.
Atlanta activated former NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. for Friday night’s home game against the Padres, welcoming him back after he missed most of the 2024 season with an ACL tear.
His return comes two days before the one-year anniversary of him tearing his ACL against the Pirates last year.
Atlanta designed for assignment former starting shortstop Orlando Arcia in a surprising corresponding move.
“Tonight: RONALD RETURNS!” the Braves tweeted Friday morning above a highlight clip before announcing the move a little after 12 p.m. ET.
The Braves (24-25) have been one of baseball’s most disappointing teams through roughly the first-third of the season, looking little like the contender they were expected to be.
Inserting Acuna back into the lineup should provide a massive lift considering he’s one of the game’s best players when healthy.
Acuna, 27, earned MVP honors in 2023 by becoming the first player in MLB history to hit at least 40 homers and notch at least 70 steals in the season.
He tallied 41 home runs and 73 steals while slashing .337/.416/.596 with a career-high 1.012 OPS.
The 2024 campaign started slow for Acuna, with just a .716 OPS, before he tore his ACL last year while on the bases against the Pirates.
He stopped while attempting to bluff a steal of third before crumpling to the ground with the injury.
Acuna previously tore his right ACL during the 2021 season.
The outfielder underwent surgery on June 6, and the Braves reached the playoffs without him, though they could not win the NL East for the seventh straight season.
The Padres then quickly dumped them in the playoffs with a two-game sweep.
The Braves’ offense has been unspectacular this year without Acuna, ranking 17th in runs scored, 14th in slugging percentage and 13th in OPS.
Acuna hit .400 spanning six games and 15 at-bats in the minors before the team cleared him to return, adding two homers in that stretch.
As Acuna returns, Arcia is the odd man out.
Arcia seemingly turned around his career with the Braves, posting the two-best OPS+ figures of his career from 2022-23, but it’s been all downhill since.
He tallied a .625 OPS this year and had a .445 OPS this season while losing playing time to Nick Allen.
The Braves rewarded him with a three-year, $7.3 million exntesion heading into the 2023 season and will now to pay a $1 million buyout for the 2026 campaign.
Atlanta sits in third place in the NL East, 7 1/2 games behind the division-leading Phillies and five games behind the Mets.
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