- 1 day ago
Ronald Acuña's hamstring injury proved not to be overly serious, but it has been a trend for the star right fielder over the last several years. He has played in more than 100 games just twice since 2021, but how concerned should Braves fans be moving forward?
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00:00But Braves are on fire.
00:02How freaked are you about the Acuna thing?
00:03Well, look, anytime, and this is becoming more, you know, more frequent.
00:09This is not serious, thank goodness.
00:11It's a hammy.
00:12But, you know, he's going to be out for some time here.
00:15And I think, you know, the more we talk about what the future is with the Braves and Acuna,
00:19it's situations like this.
00:20I'm not telling you a hamstring is not going to get him his money.
00:22What I am going to tell you is two major knee injuries in between an MVP, you know,
00:29and then these kinds of things, these soft tissue.
00:32Like I tell you, soft body Luka, these soft tissue issues continue to pop up.
00:37And so I'm not overly concerned because the team is playing so well.
00:40But it makes me think about the overall future with Ronald Acuna because he's still so young.
00:45And then you go, all right, well, let's lock him up for the next 10 years.
00:48I don't think that's happening.
00:49No.
00:49And the thing with Ronald, I said to Carl, every time, you know, he legs out anything at the first
00:53base,
00:54I'm always holding my breath.
00:55How he hits the bag, you know, I'm always, you know, in terms of clutch my pearls,
00:58oh, no, Ronald, but you still worry about that stuff.
01:00And then I saw some of the typical things, and I don't disagree necessarily when guys say,
01:05you know, too much wear and tear on this man's body when you throw in the winter ball.
01:09But he loves playing in Venezuela.
01:10He loves playing down there.
01:11You know, he loves being a part of it.
01:13So it will be impossible to tell him not to do that.
01:16And these are things that happen over the course of 162.
01:18But just with Ronald, as you said, everything just seems amplified because of his history.
01:21Yeah, man, something we'll be getting into and talking about as this team continues to win,
01:25another series, another one, series win against the Rockies.
01:29Rockies aren't that good, but they did score runs.
01:31Look, Mike, if you ask me what I'm more concerned about right now, it's Spencer Strider.
01:36Now, look, hear me out.
01:40Strider, three and a third yesterday.
01:43Pitch count was up immediately.
01:44I mean, like five walks, right?
01:49In three and a third.
01:50Okay, six strikeouts.
01:51Yeah, I hear you.
01:53Mike, he's had all this time off with this oblique.
01:56He comes back, and the first thing you hear, and big O, let's hear Strider here because
02:01this is important.
02:02I think you guys need to hear this if you didn't hear it over the weekend.
02:05Look, everybody was busy doing stuff.
02:06Maybe you halfway paid attention and saw the Braves won.
02:09But after this game, Strider was talking about, well, you know, I mean, you paid me a lot
02:13of money.
02:14Did he do his thing like he's on the couch and you're the shrink?
02:17Yeah.
02:17And, like, I always love his frankness.
02:19I always appreciate him being honest with us, but I always worry sometimes of his mindset
02:24because he does wear his heart on a sleeve, and he's being brutally honest, and I like
02:29it, but I also don't want him to be messing with his own confidence at the same time.
02:32Exactly.
02:33Well, look, I think part of this is, and I'll read this quote to you after his outing on
02:38Sunday.
02:39Part of his issue is he just, you know, he thinks too much.
02:42He said, quote, I'd rather be pitching than hurt.
02:44For sure.
02:44But I don't want a participation trophy.
02:47I'm here to help the team win games.
02:48I'm getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to do it, and if I can't, then that's a problem.
02:54Nobody's brought up your money, bro.
02:56Nobody's talked about how much money you're getting.
02:58Yeah, you paid a lot.
02:59You're a Major League Baseball player.
03:01You're in your head about something that nobody else cares about.
03:04Right.
03:04And you're a value because the Braves lock everybody up at an early age.
03:07Now, I don't want this guy to turn into, you know, somebody who will be, oh, man, kind
03:11of like Sirocco.
03:12You know, poor, hard luck, Spencer Strider.
03:14But, you know, he looked electric with his rehab starts.
03:17Again, you know, AAA is kind of a holding pattern.
03:20It's guys who either can't make it to the major leagues or guys, you know, it is what
03:23it is.
03:23You come up against big league hitters, albeit the Rockies, the pitch count.
03:27And this is the thing when he started.
03:29You worry about the pitch count.
03:30Because guys just sit there on that fastball car, they foul everything off.
03:33And the pitch count balloons, and that's what you get the less out.
03:35Hopefully, it's part of a process.
03:38It is.
03:38And that's the thing.
03:39First start.
03:40But remember, last year, as we went through this process, and I kept saying, he ain't
03:43back.
03:44And y'all were like, wait, Dukes.
03:45He's not back.
03:46Oh, give us some time.
03:47He's not back.
03:48And then he wasn't back.
03:50I'm not saying the same situation is going to play out, but Mike's right.
03:53If we get to start five, and we're still hearing the same kind of thing, and he's not pitching
03:59five, six, giving us quality starts, then I'm going to have another issue with this whole
04:03Spencer Strider thing.
04:04And that adds to the conversation, Mike.
04:06If he's ever going to get back to what got him the deal, and more importantly, what impressed
04:12the hay out of us, which was the velo and the strikeouts.
04:15Every time this dude pitched, you figured he was going to strike out 10 or 12 guys.
04:19Right.
04:19So now you just wait and see, because already, I said, do we have enough pitching?
04:22Now, we're not going to complain about the pitching.
04:24You think it's the best team in baseball.
04:26We're doing something we haven't done since the 1890s as a franchise, okay?
04:29The Boston Bean Eaters, Carl, back in the day, winning 25 of your first 35 games.
04:34But Ronaldo Lopez is not pitching.
04:37We're supposed to be.
04:38Strider is a bit of a concern.
04:39So hopefully it doesn't come back to bite us later in the year in the dog days of August.
04:43But right now, everybody's raking.
04:45Guys, Acuna's on the DL now.
04:47Now, Riley still hasn't hit a lick, and you've got the best team in baseball.
04:50Yeah.
04:51It's impressive.
04:52And look, they've won 15 of the last 18.
04:55The Seattle series, it feels big because, again, we're on this roll.
04:58I would tell you the Dodgers series is bigger.
05:01That's it.
05:03Friday, Saturday, Sunday in L.A.
05:06And then they come home.
05:07And the reason is because if the Dodgers, and they are good, slap us, it will create a lot of
05:15doubt for people who say,
05:16Whoa, I thought the Brazier.
05:18It's going to be one of those series where you kind of find out a little bit about yourself.
05:22It doesn't define the season, but I think this weekend that's going to be one of those series that litmus
05:28test, Mike, as we like to say.
05:29When you look at the season and you go, Remember that early in the year?
05:33Now, if we go sweep the Dodgers, guys?
05:36Then the sky's the limit.
05:37Then it's all in.
05:39Then you go, because you can go to McGurk, whoever holds the purse strings.
05:42We can get anything else we need at the trade deadline because this team is for real.
05:45We know that.
05:46But the Dodgers, it is what it is.
05:48The Dodgers are the gatekeepers.
05:50And until we can knock those guys out, and we've done it before.
05:53You know, I mean, look, 2021 is still the great series in Braves history, going back to when they were
05:57in the old National League West against the Dodgers.
05:59But that's a perfect way, as you said, a litmus test.
06:02You know, see where exactly you are.
06:04Hey, man, you're already beating up on the Phillies.
06:06You know, we took, what, four out of six from the Phillies?
06:08You know, and the way the schedule is set up, we don't see the Phillies for a while.
06:11So you're right.
06:11This will be a huge one coming up against L.A.
06:14Everybody's hitting, including Jonah Heim?
06:17Who?
06:18Exactly.
06:19The backup catcher.
06:19Yes.
06:19I mean, like, this is when you know.
06:21Remember what I told you guys earlier in the season when I said, you have to have guys do something
06:26that you didn't expect them to do?
06:28Think about what's happening with this team.
06:31The Stars, most of them, are hitting.
06:33But a bunch of guys are doing stuff that you didn't expect them to do.
06:36Heim had five RBI yesterday.
06:39Can I hear Jonah Heim?
06:41Oh, it feels good.
06:42A lot of hard work went into feeling like I did today.
06:45A lot of grinding in the cage and a lot of shadowboxing in the mirror.
06:48But I can't thank these hitting coaches enough for giving me a good process and sticking with me.
06:53But, yeah, it feels good and hopefully keep it rolling.
06:55Yeah, man, you've got all these things that are happening at you.
06:57Again, you've got journeymen that are hitting five RBIs in a weekend.
07:00We've had guys that walk off home runs that no one knew who they were before they got here.
07:03And, again, a credit to Alex Antopoulos, who always just seems to just make lemonade, right?
07:09Not necessarily lemons, but guys that were of value.
07:11These were cheap pieces and backups on the roster that are providing.
07:14Every single game providing something big.
07:17By the way, if you are wondering, we are first in almost every category.
07:21The Braves lead MLB in pitching.
07:27Sell leads in individual wins with six, by the way.
07:30Psst, could be on his way to another Cy Young.
07:34Batting average for the team.
07:36RBI.
07:37Matt Olsen leads in individuals with 31 and is tied for third most with the home runs with 11.
07:42Hits our team.
07:44Second in Major League Baseball in ERA.
07:47These are the numbers.
07:48And, by the way, home runs, too.
07:5050.
07:5150.
07:52And, Mike, that number says if you go back and look at the last ten champions in Major League Baseball,
07:59more than likely they were one or two in home runs, right?
08:03So, all these numbers bode well for the Atlanta Braves, but it's still early.
08:09Matter of fact, that may be even more concerning.
08:11Are we playing this damn well too early?
08:14Well, that's the, you know, again, there's no trophy for April.
08:16But, I mean, when you think about where we were last year, the 0-7 start on the West Coast
08:19swing
08:19and just looking, just did not pass the eye.
08:21There was no part of this team that passed the eye test.
08:23The profile suspension.
08:24Now we're used to not seeing that knucklehead.
08:26But, you're right, everybody doing their job.
08:28All these guys you're like, you never heard of, just contributing every single day.
08:32Dominic Smith, you know, that's another one.
08:35Dubon, you know, better known as a gold glove shortstop.
08:37And, tell you what, he's been hitting, he's had some clutch hits.
08:40And, imagine if Austin Riley can ever, you know, there are limits to what Yastrzemski can do,
08:45and that's okay.
08:45But, if we can ever get Austin Riley to do what he's supposed to do,
08:49and I've got to be honest, let's have that conversation this week.
08:51You're not sure?
08:53Let's have, you brought, we've had this, we've talked about this off the air.
08:56What's wrong with Austin Riley?
08:58Now, it's the thing is, some Braves fans don't want to hear us go down this road,
09:00because you just said, all the things that are going well for this team.
09:03But, imagine if this guy, he will be called upon in the dog days of summer,
09:08if and when other teams in the division ever get their ish together,
09:11that's a them problem.
09:12But, you're right.
09:12Right now, nobody's talking about it, but it is kind of a thing with Riley.
09:15It will be, especially, I think, we're so far above .500.
09:20I was going to say, come back down to earth.
09:22I don't know if we will, but as things even out,
09:25because usually that's what happens over the course of a baseball season, guys.
09:27It's 162 games.
09:28They even out, and that doesn't mean the Braves won't be good,
09:31but when they do, that's when you have to, your stars have to rise above.
09:34And, he has not been doing that.
09:35He's been being carried.
09:36To be honest with you, he's been being carried.
09:39He's going to have to carry us at some point.
09:41Well, I mean, there's only so far down in the line,
09:42it's why he's going to keep dropping them.
09:44You know what I mean?
09:44I mean, all you can do is, and I would rather see, you know,
09:47look, we've talked about trying to have some guys on base
09:50for when Ronald comes up leading off,
09:51but, I mean, I don't know where you put Riley.
09:53You know, you just keep dropping it down the order.
09:55You have to have an eighth?
09:56Yeah.
09:56I know.
09:57It's tough.
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