DENVER -- Sunday morning brought bad news to the Braves, but it could have been worse. The team placed Ronald Acuña Jr. on the 10-day injured list after he strained his left hamstring in Saturday’s 9-1 win over the Rockies at Coors Field.
Acuña got an MRI late Saturday night, and the Braves made the decision early Sunday.
“The MRI showed a Grade 1 strain, so not too serious, but serious enough that we had to put him on the list,” manager Walt Weiss said before Sunday’s series finale. “It's not going to be just a couple days. It’s gonna be more than that, so we need to put him on the IL, and hopefully it'll be sooner than later. No idea with these soft tissue injuries how long they're gonna take, but I think the silver lining is that the MRI showed it wasn't too serious.”
Acuña has a 23-game on-base streak and is slashing .252/.362/.378, and he has raised his average 85 points since April 2. He started each of the Braves’ first 34 games, including one at DH.
Weiss had a bad feeling when he left the field with Acuña Saturday night after watching his right fielder and leadoff man hop halfway to first on one foot.
“It didn't look great -- whenever a player pulls up like that, you think the worst,” Weiss said. “But all things considered, it could have been a lot worse.”
The Braves selected the contract of José Azocar from Triple-A Gwinnett to fill Acuña’s spot on the roster. Azocar slashed .296/.375/.479 over his past 19 games in Triple-A, with five stolen bases. He arrived in Denver Sunday morning and was in the starting lineup for the finale, playing right and batting ninth. He played 14 combined games with the Mets and Braves in 2025 after three years with the Padres.
“He’s swinging well,” Weiss said of Azocar. “José is a pro. He's obviously been a big leaguer before, a very good defender. Runs really well, and he's having a good year swinging the bat, so he'll give you a pro at-bat. He’s a nice piece to have.”