Acuña Jr. and Strider Make Progress in Their Recovery
Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., and right-handed pitcher Spencer Strider, are making significant progress in their injury recoveries this week.
Acuña will begin playing with the Florida Complex League Braves team in North Port on Tuesday. The player has been out for almost the entire season due to surgery on his left knee, suffered last year.
Braves manager Brian Snitker commented that Acuña will need to participate in minor league games after his stint in North Port.
He’s starting his comeback. It will be good to see him run in the outfield and take at-bats again.
Brian Snitker
Atlanta’s offense has missed Acuña, the team’s lead-off hitter and National League Most Valuable Player in 2023. Before Monday’s game against the Nationals, the Braves had scored three or fewer runs in five of their last six games.
Acuña participated in 49 games last season, batting .250 with four home runs in 2024, a year after hitting 41 home runs with 73 steals and a .337 batting average.
Strider will throw a simulated game in Atlanta on Wednesday. Snitker explained that the Braves will be able to better control Strider’s work in the simulated game than if he were to pitch in a minor league game.
The Braves expect Strider to throw between 70 and 75 pitches in five innings.
Strider only made two starts last season before undergoing surgery. He finished fourth in the NL Young Award voting in 2023 and was an All-Star, with a 20-5 record, a 3.86 ERA, and a league-leading 281 strikeouts.
Strider returned from elbow surgery throwing five innings in a 3-1 loss in Toronto on April 16. The right-handed pitcher was placed on the 15-day injured list on April 21 after suffering a right hamstring strain.
The hamstring is fine.
Brian Snitker
The Braves will be able to create situations for Strider to field bunts and cover first base in the simulated game.
“We’ll evaluate it after that,” Snitker said, adding that a rehab assignment in the minor leagues hasn’t been ruled out.
“We need him to be able to throw 85 pitches or maybe 90 when we decide he starts a game,” Snitker said about Strider’s return to the Atlanta rotation.
