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Former Braves Star Rips Ronald Acuña Jr. After ‘Meaningless and Stupid’ Post

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jake Elman | Last updated Apr 23, 2025 10:34 AM ET

By his own admission, longtime MLB outfielder Jeff Francoeur learned from Hank Aaron and former manager Bobby Cox what it meant to represent the Atlanta Braves.

In Francoeur’s eyes, that’s a lesson that All-Star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. needs to learn—and quickly.

Francoeur, a former Braves top prospect who currently calls the team’s games on TV, slammed Acuña during a radio interview this week. Acuña made waves over the weekend when he indirectly criticized manager Brian Snitker and teammate Jarred Kelenic after the latter didn’t hustle out of the box.

“If it were me, they would take me out of the game,” Acuña wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in a since-deleted post.

Francoeur tore into Acuña, saying the 2023 NL MVP “buried” Kelenic publicly.

Jarred Kelenic with the homer to RF! Oops, I mean single.

Home to 1B- 7.49 seconds
1B to 2B- 3.30 seconds

He's out after replay challenge. pic.twitter.com/l67cFCbBoR
— The WARmonger (@TheWARmonger_) April 20, 2025

“And you got a guy who’s supposed to be your teammate,” Francoeur said, “tweeting, probably out in LA, something that is completely meaningless and stupid.”

Snitker pulled Acuña from a game in 2019 for not hustling. Francoeur dispelled any notion that Snitker handled Kelenic differently than Acuña for racial reasons.

“Acuña was warned time after time after time,” Francoeur noted, according to the New York Post. “After time. Let’s talk, like, 10 times to run before he ever got yanked. This is the first time Jarred Kelenic has ever done it.”

Acuña has not publicly addressed the post in recent days. He is currently on the injured list while recovering from knee surgery.

Francoeur played with plenty of All-Stars over his 12 MLB seasons. He shared a locker room in Atlanta with Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Freddie Freeman. He hit in the same San Francisco Giants lineup as Buster Posey and manned an outfield with ex-Miami Marlins stars Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton.

Francoeur acknowledged that talent is one thing, though it shouldn’t stop Acuña from being a “good teammate.”

“You’re making millions of dollars,” Francoeur said. “You’re getting to play a kid’s game. Be a good teammate and pull for your team.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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