Braves place Ronald Acuña Jr. on injured list with left wrist inflammation

The Braves lose one of baseball’s most impactful players for at least the next week.

The Braves have placed outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. on the 10-day injured list with left wrist inflammation, retroactive to August 12. While these things are never certain, it appears that the injury is relatively minor, and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports that he could be back by next Friday.

Acuña Jr. is having another stellar season as a 22-year-old, hitting .258/.372/.515 with four homers through 18 games. His injury is the latest in what’s been a season of tough injury luck for the Braves, as they lost ace Mike Soroka for the season with torn achilles and are currently without second baseman Ozzie Albies as he works his way back from a wrist contusion. They also spent some time without both of their catchers, Tyler Flowers and Travis d’Arnaud, as they went through COVID-19 protocols (neither actually tested positive for the virus), didn’t get reliever Will Smith back until recently as he fought his way back from a bout with COVID, and were without first baseman Freddie Freeman for most of summer camp as he battled the coronavirus.

With Acuña out, the Braves’ outfield options include Marcell Ozuna, Ender Inciarte, Nick Markakis, Adam Duvall, and perhaps utility player Charlie Culberson, who has extensive experience in the outfield but hasn’t played there this year.