Braves Remove Acuña From Lineup Amid Injury Scare

Acuña was out of the starting lineup for the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. The reason given at the time was to give him rest, with the short turnaround between games playing a factor; first pitch times were about 19 hours apart. He came in late in the game as a pinch hitter and stayed in until the final out

This injury is reportedly unrelated to Sunday's decision-making. According to MLB.com's Mark Bowman, team trainer George Poulis got Snitker's attention during batting practice to let him know that Acuña was experiencing discomfort.

Better safe than sorry. Their star right fielder is finally healthy after missing a year due to his second torn ACL injury in his career. He's also set to participate in the Home Run Derby and was voted to be in the starting lineup for the All-Star Game scheduled for a week from Tuesday night.

According to Bowman, the Braves will evaluate Acuña over the next day or two before deciding if his injury could affect his availability for the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game.

Through 40 games played, he's batting .331 with a 1.011 OPS, nine home runs and 18 RBIs. He's slumped a bit in his last 12 games, but he's still having a best-case scenario return for the team.

The Braves haven't been shy about being cautious with Acuña. He's been pulled from a couple of games just to preserve his health. He left the 10-1 loss to the Rockies early simply because it was a blowout. He was removed from the 13-0 loss to the Phillies due to the weather, plus the game got out of hand early on.

The Braves are starting a three-game series out in Sacramento against The Athletics. First pitch is set for 10:05 p.m. EDT.

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