Braves confirm Ronald Acuña has meniscus irritation, should be ready for Opening Day

The Atlanta Braves received confirmation that star outfielder Ronald Acuña should be ready for the start of the season despite dealing with recent soreness in his right knee.

Acuña is dealing with meniscus irritation that shouldn't keep him on the bench when Opening Day arrives, the Braves announced Tuesday. Dr. Neal ElAttrache evaluated the Braves star on Monday night to confirm the diagnosis.

As spring training revs up, so will Acuña. He's expected to "gradually increase baseball activities" in the coming weeks ahead of Opening Day, which is March 28.

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Acuña suffered the injury when he tweaked his right knee while caught in a rundown during Thursday's spring training game against the Minnesota Twins. He was scratched from Friday's game against the Baltimore Orioles less than an hour before the game.

Acuña, the reigning NL MVP, initially underwent an MRI over the weekend after telling the team he was experiencing soreness in his right knee. The MRI revealed irritation around his right meniscus, according to MLB.com. So, Dr. Neal ElAttrache's diagnosis was a sigh of relief for the Braves.

"We expect him to be ready for Opening Day barring new information," Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters on Saturday. "It looks like irritation, but we're going to make sure we check all of the boxes."

Braves manager Brian Snitker was also cautious but said the team was "trying to be optimistic" with Acuña's injury.

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Acuña has had issues with his right knee in the past, tearing his right ACL just two days before the 2021 All-Star break. ElAttrache performed surgery to repair the injury, and Acuña returned to action in late April of the following season.

Acuña, who is already a four-time All-Star at the age of 26, is coming off a historic season in which he became the first player to hit at least 40 home runs (41) and steal at least 70 bases (73) in one season. In addition to leading the NL in steals, he also led in hits (217), runs (149), on-base percentage (.416) and OPS (1.012).