Braves give Acuña Jr. chance to reset, while Kim starts finale vs. LA
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ATLANTA -- Along with giving Ha-Seong Kim a chance to build upon his walk-off hit, Braves manager Walt Weiss decided it was time to give Ronald Acuña Jr. a chance to briefly distance himself from his recent frustrations.
Kim was in the starting lineup for the first time since Aug. 7, as the Braves closed out a three-game series against the Dodgers on Thursday night at Truist Park. But Atlanta’s lineup didn’t include Acuña, who has hit .188 (21-for-112) with a .614 OPS over the 28 games (121 plate appearances) he’s played since coming off the injured list on July 27.
“Look, he's fighting through it,” Weiss said. “It's not the first time he's had to fight through something like this, and they all do. But had a good talk with Ronald today, and you know, he's motivated, he's going to do what it takes to get through it.”
Acuña has struggled with his bid to become the player he was before he tore his left anterior cruciate ligament two months into the 2024 season. He also tore his right ACL in ‘21. The first major knee surgery didn’t prevent him from producing an historic 40-70 season on the way to winning the 2023 NL MVP.
But playing with two surgically repaired knees has been a challenge for Acuña, who has hit .228 with 13 homers and 18 stolen bases in 81 games this season.
Even with this decline in production, Acuña’s numbers put him on pace to flirt with what would be a 30-30 season over 162 games. But staying healthy has been a challenge. He strained his left hamstring on May 2 and again on June 9.
The injuries have seemingly negatively impacted Acuña’s timing. He has hit just .119 (12-for-111) against four-seam fastballs this season. He hit .292 (49-for-168) against this pitch in 2023, .172 (11-for-64) in ‘24 and .269 (28-for-104) in ‘25.
“Timing is always a factor,” Weiss said. “A little bit goes a long way. If you're just a tick off, it goes a long way.”
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Kim snapped an 0-for-27 skid, which dated back to June 3, when he delivered a walk-off hit in a 6-5 win over the Dodgers on Wednesday. The game-ending single earned him a chance to start on Thursday. Mauricio Dubón moved to left field for the finale.