He had a feeling: Ronald Acuña Jr. hits home run in first at-bat back with Braves

And Snitker had the perfect description for the allure of a player like Acuña.

“He’s one of those players that you better not go get a beer or whatever because you might miss something really cool,” Snitker said. “He’s that type of force, I think, in the game.”

You better not leave your seat to get a beer.

And, apparently, you cannot get to your seat late.

On the very first pitch he saw in his return to the major leagues – a 93-mph fastball from San Diego’s Nick Pivetta – Acuña hammered a missile that traveled 467 feet to left-center field. It departed the bat at 115.5 mph.

Yeah, he’s back.

The Braves lost to the Padres, 2-1, on Friday. But Acuña looked terrific. He went 2-for-4 with that home run and a single. He also threw out a runner trying to stretch a single into a double with a 90 mph throw from the right-field warning track. He even kept a couple would-be doubles to singles because he’s such a weapon in right field.

The coolest part about all this: Acuña had a feeling he might homer in his first at-bat.

“I had a feeling in the sense where I had mentioned to my brothers that I was hoping or thinking I might homer,” he said after the game. “But I didn’t want to just focus too much on that. I wanted the game to just flow naturally and for it to come to see without it trying to press and make something like that happen.”

On Thursday afternoon, Acuña was in Louisville with the Gwinnett Stripers. He was about to hit in the batting cage as he prepared for the latest game of his rehab assignment.

Then someone stopped him and told him he would not be playing.

“What do you mean I’m not playing today?” Acuña said, as he recalled through interpreter Franco García.

He received a call with tremendous news: He would be playing on Friday – for the Braves at Truist Park. His rehab assignment, and rehab overall, were over. He would soon be back in the major leagues for the first time since tearing the ACL in his left knee in Pittsburgh May 26 of last year.

On Friday afternoon, Acuña arrived at Truist Park – not to rehab, but to play. He smiled for a picture before entering the clubhouse. He greeted teammates in there. Eventually, he hugged multiple coaches out at batting practice.

“Super excited, super happy, honestly,” Acuña said. “Last night, I felt like I couldn’t sleep very much, and I woke up early this morning and felt like I just couldn’t wait to get to the stadium.”

Despite Acuña’s post on social media that indirectly criticized his manager, there’s no doubt Snitker is happy his leadoff hitter is back. It took one pitch for Acuña to welcome himself back to the group. So, yeah, Snitker is happy to be writing Acuña’s name in the lineup again.

“It was pretty good, I’ll tell you that,” Snitker said of writing that name down. “It felt good.”

Everyone knows it: When Acuña is at his best, there’s no one like him.

“I think he’s gonna energize everybody,” Snitker said. “He’s gonna energize the fans, he’s gonna energize his teammates just being back on the field and what he can do, as we’ve seen, both sides of the ball.”

It only took one pitch.

“Yeah, I mean, you’re talking the first pitch he’s seen in the big leagues in almost a year,” Chris Sale said. “I’d be lying if I said you probably (didn’t have) a packed house and a bunch of Braves fans halfway expecting something like that to happen. That just kind of goes to who he is as a ballplayer and just the electricity he can create on his own. That was one of the cooler moments I’ve seen on the baseball field.”

Before the game, Acuña said he’s felt physically ready to play since he started his rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League – rookie-level baseball – on May 13. From there, it was just about adjusting to the fastball once again.

A rehab is a lengthy process. Day by day, a player works hard to return to form. But there’s always a team of professionals helping behind the scenes. In this case, Dr. Neal ElAttrache – the surgeon who performed the operation – and his staff aided Acuña in the early stages. Then the Braves’ medical staff took it from there.

Asked who helped him, Acuña gave special shoutouts to members of the organization: assistant director of player health and head physical therapist Nick Valencia, head strength and conditioning coach Brad Scott, assistant strength and conditioning coach Jordan Wolf and roving strength and conditioning coach Paul Howey.

“I think they were just a pillar and a foundation of just the entire recovery process for me,” Acuña said.

They’ve helped Acuña look to be, in the words of Snitker, “n the best shape of his life.” Multiple times recently, Snitker has commented on how lean Acuña looks. More importantly, the outfielder’s knee is strong and sound.

With Acuña starting in right field, Eli White was the odd man out of the lineup. Snitker put Alex Verdugo in left field, and hit him fifth in the batting order. White will still play when Acuña has a day off. But the Braves aren’t sure how many he’ll need.

Acuña’s rehab took almost a full year, which means he shouldn’t have to manage the same pain and soreness that plagued him after he came back in 2022.

“The patience, for sure,” Acuña said of what he learned from his first ACL rehab. “I feel like if it would’ve been the first go-around, I would’ve probably rushed the process a little bit and I would’ve been back sooner, but not been ready to play the way I am. With the way we approached it this time, it feels like I took my time, fully recovered. We’ve got three days until the one-year anniversary of when it happened, and I just think I’m in a much better spot to return and play the way I know I can play as opposed to last time.”

Two seasons ago, Acuña took home the National League MVP. He was motivated to put together an incredible encore last season. Instead, he lost another year of his career.

His motivation to get back to the top now?

“I’m super happy. I’m just super happy to be here, I’m super happy to be here again with my team,” Acuña said. “And, honestly, I’m just looking forward to really being able to help and contribute to helping the team win and my teammates in any way that I can. With that said, yes, I would love to be playing at a high level, but baseball is all about highs and lows. I feel like I’ve been going through the lows, so hopefully the highs are coming soon.”

Baseball is better when its best players are healthy. Thus, Acuña’s return is a celebration for the sport as a whole almost as much as it is for Braves fans.

Even the visitors applauded Acuña.

“I’m so happy for that guy that he came back healthy,” San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “Just so happy for him.”

During pregame introductions, Acuña received a booming ovation from the fans who were already in their seats at that time. Not long after, he ran out to right field here for the first time in a year. The fans there were happy to see him.

And his teammates know what a talent injection like that can do for them.

“It’s huge,” Austin Riley said before the game. “Just the talent that’s there, the energy that he brings, having a guy up there at the top of the lineup, what he does with the bat, in the field, on the bases – the list goes on and on. Guys are pumped.”

And for good reason. On the first pitch he saw, Acuña announced his return in a loud way. Then he continued impacting the game.

On many nights, he is the show.

“I think I said a few hours ago, it’s like, don’t go up and leave your seat, because you might see him, on both sides of the ball, do something really good – and you would’ve," Snitker said after the game, referencing his quote from before it.