

ATLANTA — Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. called into question manager Brian Snitker’s reaction, or lack thereof, to an incident in Saturday’s game when Jarred Kelenic was thrown out at second base after not running hard out of the batter’s box on a fly ball that Kelenic thought would be a home run.
The ball caromed off the right-field wall and Kelenic was thrown out at second base in the sixth inning of what was then a tied game. Kelenic stayed in the game and Snitker was dismissive of a question about the incident afterward, acting as if Kelenic did nothing wrong.
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When it was mentioned on the social media platform X Sunday morning, Acuña, who is in Florida rehabbing from May 2024 knee surgery, replied in a message, “If it were me, they would take me out of the game.”
The message was deleted before the start of Sunday afternoon’s series-finale win against the Minnesota Twins.
Asked later about Acuña’s comment, Snitker said all base running incidents are different but did not expound on the topic. He said he didn’t watch Kelenic’s play as it unfolded but once he saw video of it Sunday morning, he “talked to (Kelenic) about it.” He also said he didn’t see Acuña’s message.
Ronald Acuña Jr. on X 👀 pic.twitter.com/9SprCmMhZd
— The Athletic MLB (@TheAthleticMLB) April 20, 2025
Saturday’s incident was similar to one in August 2019 when Acuña, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year at the time, was removed from a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers for not hustling on a fly ball that hit off that same brick wall, forcing Acuña to settle for a single.
Snitker removed him from that game a half-inning later and said after that game, “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. That name on the front is a lot more important than the name on the back of that jersey. You can’t do that.
“We’re trying to accomplish something and do something special here, and personal things have to be put on the back burner. You just can’t let your team down like that.”
(Photo of Acuña in 2024: David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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