Braves reinstate Acuña ahead of Monday’s game with Marlins

“He’s doing well. He ran around (Monday), and he’s certainly getting close,” Weiss said two hours before game time Monday. “I would probably list him more like day-to-day at this point.”

Turns out, Monday was part of that day-to-day definition.

“The plan was, we were shooting for possibly (Tuesday), but then (Kyle) Farmer went to get an MRI and once we got the results of that, we said, ‘Heck, we’ll use the spot.’ Since we IL-ed Farmer we’ll just go ahead and activate Acuña and maybe have him available for a pinch-hit late or something like that,” Weiss explained after Friday’s 12-0 loss to the Marlins.

“Now at this point he’ll play (Tuesday)” Weiss added. “Now he’s not gonna play every day the first few days. But he’s gonna play (Tuesday) and we’re gonna take it day-by-day. We may treat this kind of like the Michael Harris situation a little bit where he might have a day off or there’s a DH, how (Harris) was sometimes available off the bench. That might be (Acuña).”

Before Monday’s game, Weiss was asked if there was any possibility as to whether Acuña would be activated at any point during this week’s series against the Marlins.

“I don’t think it’s out of the question, but I’m not as high in the hierarchy there to make that final call,” Weiss said. “But I trust the guys that are making that call.”

Also before Monday’s game, Weiss had cautioned against playing Acuña, who had been on the 10-day injured list with a strained hamstring, on the turf field at loanDepot park. Acuña tore an ACL in July of 2021 at the venue.

However, Acuña has also played plenty of times there since, and he and Venezuela clinched the World Baseball Classic championship at the stadium in March.

“The turf, a little bit tougher on soft tissue, hamstrings, quads, groins, that type of thing,” Weiss said. “It’s a factor. It’s not the factor, but it’s part of the equation when you’re talking about activating somebody.”

Acuña left a May 2 game at Coors Field in Denver against the Rockies and was placed on the 10-day IL the next day. He was hitting .252 with just two homers and nine RBIs with an OPS of .740 before then.

Acuña was not inserted into Monday’s lineup — Mike Yastrzemski remained the starter in right field. Acuña will get the start Tuesday against Marlins left-handed starting pitcher Braxton Garrett.

“Yeah, feel good, going to go try to win with my teammates again, help my team win a lot of games. I do my best every time,” Acuña said after Friday’s game. “We’ve been talking to each other every hour, every minute. They know I’m ready so we’ll see what happens (Tuesday).”

In a corresponding move Monday, the Braves placed Farmer, an infielder, on the 10-day injured list, backdated to Saturday, with a strained right forearm. Farmer last played in Friday’s 3-2 win over the Red Sox, striking out as a pinch-hitter against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman. Farmer was also on deck to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth with two outs before Chapman closed out a 3-2 win for the Sox.

Farmer has played in only 10 games for the Braves, and just three this month.