Braves Today

Where Ronald Acuña Jr. Sits in RF Rankings Coming Back From Injury

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter still included Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. among the best right fielders in the league even though the superstar is returning from a second ACL injury.

Dave Holcomb

Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr.
Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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It's always difficult rating a player coming back from injury. With today's modern medicine, players often return from injuries better than ever.

But nothing is ever guaranteed, which is what makes ranking Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. this offseason particularly hard.

In a new right fielder power rankings from Bleacher Report this week, MLB writer Joel Reuter still had Acuña rated among the top players at the position. But, Acuña was seemingly in a tier below the very top at the position.

Reuter ultimately placed Acuña at No. 5 on his right fielders list.

"How will Ronald Acuña Jr. perform this time around in his return from a torn ACL? It took him some time to regain his explosiveness last time around, as he hit .266/.351/.413 for a 112 OPS+ with 15 home runs and 29 steals in 119 games during the 2022 season after his 2021 was cut short by the same injury," wrote Reuter.

"Of course, the following year he became baseball's first 40-homer, 70-steal player and took home NL MVP honors, so the dip in production proved temporary.

"This might end up being a generous ranking, especially considering he is not expected to return until sometime in May at the earliest, but he has earned that level of respect heading into his age-27 season."

Reuter seemed to try to find a happy medium with his No. 5 ranking for Acuña. There's a danger to doing that.

Braves Country probably thinks the 2023 MVP should be higher while other baseball fans could see a top-5 ranking for a player coming off a second ACL surgery as far too generous.

But I personally agree with Reuter that Acuña has earned the right to stay in the elite right fielder conversation.

When healthy, Acuña is arguably the best all-around player in baseball. But, it's not fair to expect him to remain a speedster on the base paths this summer.

Acuña has admitted himself that he's likely to be less aggressive stealing this year. There's a chance he's never again as aggressive as he once was.

That will hurt his overall ranking. But it won't be enough to take him out of the top five right fielder conversation as long as he hits and plays defense as he did prior to the 2024 injury.

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Dave Holcomb
DAVE HOLCOMB