ATLANTA -- Ronald Acuña Jr. is at least a couple weeks away from returning from left knee surgery. But the 2023 National League MVP still created headlines on Sunday with a since-deleted social media post that was critical of Braves manager Brian Snitker.
¡°I heard about it as I was walking to the dugout,¡± Snitker said. ¡°I heard something was up. I came in and they said it was down. I haven¡¯t talked to him, so I don¡¯t know.¡±
Acu?a grabbed widespread immediate attention Sunday morning, when he posted ¡°If it were me, they would take me out of the game,¡± on his X account. He was replying to a post that explained how Snitker had reacted to Jarred Kelenic getting thrown out at second base after admiring a long drive that hit off the top of the right-field wall on Saturday night.
The post was made approximately 90 minutes before the Braves began Sunday¡¯s 6-2 win over the Twins. It was removed before the game began.
Snitker's response came after an Atlanta radio reporter asked the manager, ¡°Did you say anything to Jarred after he watched that ball hit off the bat and then hit off the wall?¡± Snitker replied, ¡°Did I say anything to him? Just, 'Way to swing the bat.' Was I supposed to?¡±
This regrettable response irritated Acu?a, who was removed from a game after doing the same thing against the Dodgers on Aug. 19, 2019. That wasn¡¯t the first or only time the young star hurt his team by not running hard out of the box on long fly balls that didn¡¯t always clear the outfield wall.
¡°It¡¯s one of those things where I [wasn¡¯t] thinking and that¡¯s the reaction I took,¡± Acu?a said after that incident in 2019. ¡°[Snitker] felt that was the decision he had to make, and I respect that decision.¡±
Acu?a¡¯s biggest blunder came during Game 1 of the 2019 NL Division Series, when he was stranded after being limited to a single on a 331-foot fly ball off the right-field wall. The Braves lost, 7-6, and then dropped the final two games of the best-of-five series.
Along with being a repeat offender, Acu?a was also a young star with a long future in the organization. His removal was much like when Bobby Cox removed Andruw Jones immediately after the then 21-year-old center fielder lackadaisically reacted to a fly ball during the 1998 season.
¡°It¡¯s just timing and everything,¡± Snitker said. ¡°There¡¯s no blanket [response] to that.¡±
It initially seemed like Snitker was trying to protect Kelenic. But when speaking after Sunday's game, he said he hadn¡¯t even seen what Kelenic did coming out of the box. The outfielder drifted toward the first-base dugout while admiring the shot and was still on the dugout side of the first-base coach¡¯s box when the ball hit off the wall.
¡°I don't look for him to not [hustle], because he plays with his hair on fire all the time, and he's laying out,¡± Snitker said. ¡°I didn't know it until I saw it this morning.¡±
Kelenic was initially ruled safe at second, but he was ruled out after a replay review. The outfielder said he took it upon himself to go to Snitker¡¯s office on Sunday to apologize. He wasn¡¯t summoned to the office.
¡°I just got to be better and that won¡¯t happen again,¡± Kelenic said.