It doesn’t help that the status of one of their most important players is up in the air ahead of Wednesday’s elimination game, and it could have massive ripple effects on the club.
Ronald Acuña Jr. may not be able to play right field on Wednesday, relegating him to a role as the designated hitter. The Braves made a late change to their lineup Tuesday, moving Acuña from the field to DH due to soreness in his right knee. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout on Tuesday.
Manager Walt Weiss made no indication after the loss whether Acuña would be ready to play defense for Game 4. The injury happened during Game 2 when Acuña slid into second base on a steal and jammed his knee.
“I'm not sure about tomorrow,” Weiss said Tuesday. “We'll see how he feels when he comes in tomorrow.”
If Acuña is unable to play defense, it will have an impact on the way Atlanta lines up against Dodgers right-handed starter Tyler Glasnow. As was the case on Tuesday, Drake Baldwin would be moved from DH to catcher, placing Sean Murphy on the bench. Murphy has caught all of Braves Game 4 starter Tyler Mahle’s outings since he was acquired at the Trade Deadline.
Acuña at DH would also likely mean Ha-Seong Kim (1-for-30 since Sept. 12) plays shortstop, as Mauricio Dubón’s glove would be needed in the outfield. Atlanta could opt to keep Dubón at short and play Lane Thomas in the outfield, though Thomas owns just a .664 OPS against righties in his career.
Acuña finished the regular season red-hot at the plate with a .997 OPS over his final 26 games. But he's struggled a bit in the postseason, going 3-for-21 without an extra-base hit or an RBI.