Every Atlanta Braves fan had to hold their breath when Ronald Acuña Jr. was scratched from Friday’s lineup with knee soreness. The knee bothering the reigning NL MVP happened to be the right knee, the same knee that had been surgically repaired after he tore his ACL in 2021.
Acuña was diagnosed with meniscus irritation, but the Braves had to hope and pray nothing worse came back on his MRI. The Braves delayed relaying what was on the MRI until Tuesday, and fans expected the worst as a result. Thankfully, all is fine.
Acuña does have irritation in his right meniscus, but that’s it. Nothing worse came about. He’s expected to increase baseball activities over time and be part of the Opening Day roster. Best news the Braves could’ve gotten.
With Acuña set to be on the Opening Day roster barring any setbacks, that means players who might’ve had a lot to gain from a potential injury, likely won’t make the team out of Spring Training.
While the Braves have been relatively quiet in the free agent market this offseason, they’ve made several trades, landing players like Chris Sale and Aaron Bummer. An under-the-radar deal Alex Anthopoulos made saw Atlanta land J.P. Martinez, an outfielder who debuted for the Rangers last season.
Martinez played in 17 games for the Rangers and had an underwhelming .575 OPS. While that certainly won’t get Braves fans excited, there are reasons to believe the 27-year-old can contribute at the MLB level if called upon.
He didn’t do much at the Major League level, but Martinez had an impressive .963 OPS for AAA Frisco last season, hitting 14 home runs and stealing 41 bases in just 82 games played.
Martinez will seemingly have a great chance at cracking the roster as the fourth outfielder given the fact that he’s on the 40-man roster, but a player he’s competing with, Forrest Wall, has been among the best hitters in the league this spring. Had Acuña begun the year on the IL, there would’ve been room for both. Now that Acuña is looking like he’ll be ready to go, that might mean Martinez begins the year in AAA.
