The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Acuna likely to be back lineup Friday
Braves’ top prospect has been out since tumble a month ago in Boston.
If you’re among the many eagerly awaiting the return of Braves phenom Ronald Acuna, Friday should be the day.
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said the plan is to activate Acuna from the disabled list before Friday’s series opener at St. Louis, provided he got through a second consecutive full game for Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday without incident and feels good today.
Wednesday marked the one-month anniversary of Acuna’s tumble on the basepath at Boston, where he caught his left cleat in the dirt after beating out an infield single, hyperextending the knee and sending him sprawling violently to the ground.
The 20-year-old left fielder sustained a sprained knee ligament and contusions to the knee and lower back. The injuries were mild compared to the Braves’ initial fears of a season-ending torn ligament or broken bone.
“We’ll see how he does today,” Anthopoulos said Wednesday morning before Acuna played his second con- secutive game in the Gwinnett outfield. “But we’re opti- mistic that if he comes out of the game (healthy) and he feels fine, there’s a good chance we’ll see him on Friday.”
Acuna, the youngest player in the majors when called up in late April, hit .265 (31 for 117) with seven doubles, five homers, 13 RBIs and a .779 OPS in 29 games for the Braves. Wednesday’s game was the sixth for Acuna on his minor league rehab stint.
Charlie Culberson has played well in left field during Acuna’s absence and had some big hits and home runs, but Culberson will move back into a utility role when the rookie returns.
“Once he’s up here the plan is to play him every day,” Anthopoulos said.
Acuna was 3 for 17 in five games on his rehab assignment before Wednesday.
Soroka update: The Braves moved rookie pitcher Mike Soroka from the 10-day to the 60-day disabled list We d nesday. The team emphasized the move did not reflect any change in his condition — inflammation in the rotator cuff of his throwing shoulder — or the time frame of his expected return. Rather, it was a procedural move made because the Braves needed to open a spot on the 40-man roster to add reliever Wes Par- sons for Wednesday after- noon’s series finale against the Reds.
And since Soroka, an elite prospect and the youngest
pitcher in the majors at 20, is only one week into a planned four-week period of no throwing, he wouldn’t have been ready to pitch again for at least two months from June 20, the retroac- tive date for his placement on the DL.
“It’s not a surprise for us,
it’s just a formality,” Anthopoulos said.
Soroka went on the DL for the second time in five weeks following his June 19 start at Toronto. That was his second start since returning from a one-month DL stint. An MRI exam on his shoulder last week was similar to one he had last month, show- ing no structural damage, no tears, just inflammation.
Soroka is 2-1 with a 3.51 ERA in five starts and has 21 strikeouts with seven walks in 25⅔ innings.
Three Stripers named All - Stars: Braves prospects Kolby Allard, Carlos Franco and Evan Phillips were named Wednesday to the International League team for the Triple-A All-Star Game. The trio of Gwinnett players will compete in the game against a team from the Pacific Coast League on July 11 in Columbus, Ohio.
Allard, a left-handed pitcher, is 5-3 with a 2.60 ERA in a team-high 14 starts for Gwinnett. Franco, a first baseman, is batting .260 with a league-leading 49 RBIs in 76 games and has 11 home runs, third in the International League. Phillips, a right-handed pitcher, is 4-4 with a 2.31 ERA and has six saves in 26 relief appear- ances.