Ronald Acuña Jr. Questions Braves' Consistency After Kelenic Basepath Blunder

In the sixth inning, Kelenic launched a ball off the wall in right field and prematurely broke into a home run trot. Realizing it hadn’t cleared the fence, he tried to scramble for second base but was thrown out after review. It was a mental lapse that could have been costly, but Snitker didn’t seem interested in making a scene.

“Was I supposed to?” Snitker said when asked if he spoke to Kelenic about the play.

That’s when Acuña entered the chat — literally.

Responding to a tweet by MLB.com's Mark Bowman, Acuña wrote:
“If it were me, they would take me out of the game.”

The tweet was quickly deleted, but not before it sparked plenty of conversation around the Braves and how they handle discipline.

Acuña has lived this before. Back in 2019, he was benched mid-game by Snitker for a similar mistake — watching what he thought was a home run, only for it to stay in play and result in a single. Snitker made his stance clear then:

“He didn’t run. You’ve got to run. It’s not going to be acceptable here. As a teammate, you’re responsible for 24 other guys, and that name on the front is a lot more important than the name on the back.”

That moment was widely praised at the time as a teaching moment for the young star. But Acuña’s recent tweet suggests that six years later, he believes that standard hasn’t been applied equally.

The biggest difference? In 2019, Acuña was yanked despite still being on base. On Saturday, Kelenic — whose mistake cost the team an out — remained in the game and is back in the lineup Sunday.

To be clear, there’s no evidence of clubhouse tension or long-term fallout. Acuña hasn’t spoken publicly beyond the now-deleted tweet, and the Braves haven’t issued any statement. But the reaction reveals the fine line managers must walk when balancing accountability and consistency, especially in a clubhouse filled with star power and high expectations.

For now, the Braves are trying to steer out of a slow start to the season. But how internal moments like this are handled could have ripple effects well beyond April.