Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Spencer Strider.
Spencer Strider who?
Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. could both be back with the Braves this week, y’all.
Quick links: Braves return to form | Atlanta United is ‘weak’ | Breaking down the Dream
HAVING A BLAST
Credit: Daniel Varnado for the AJC
Credit: Daniel Varnado for the AJC
By all accounts, Ronald Acuña Jr. is done throwing bombs on social media.
But grenades on the basepaths?
Well … get comfortable ducking and covering.
His return to the big leagues inching ever closer, the former MVP spent the weekend at Triple-A Gwinnett. And as one might expect, he dominated:
- 12 plate appearances
- 6 walks
- 3 hits
- 1 homer
- 5 runs scored
He also appears to have debuted a new on-base celebration: Pull the pin, toss the grenade and cover those ears.
All imaginary, of course, and seemingly borrowed from troublesome NBA star Ja Morant (though I instantly thought of this classic tirade by minor league manager Phil Wellman.)
Love it or hate it? Not sure.
Either way, it’s a reminder that Acuña stands to shake things up when he returns to the Atlanta lineup — and that, as the AJC’s Gabe Burns put it, “the baseball universe seems to be conspiring for the Braves to reach peak form in the coming months.”
Credit: Steven Senne/AP
Credit: Steven Senne/AP
Saturday’s bullpen implosion notwithstanding, the Braves came alive at Fenway Park over the weekend.
Two wins and a total of 20 runs, including 10 in Sunday’s finale. Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna crushing balls again. Drake Baldwin? Still awesome.
“When the offense gets rolling, it’s fun to watch,” Sunday’s starter, Spencer Schwellenbach, said. “Lots of homers, lots of hard-hit balls.”
The bats helped Atlanta finish a stretch of 17 straight games at 10-7. They’re now 24-23 overall — and 24-16 since that miserable start to the season.
And more help is on the way. Imminently. Like, this week.
At last check, the Braves’ starting pitcher for Tuesday’s series opener at Washington remained officially listed as TBA. But ace Spencer Strider was activated from the injured list just a little while ago, and all signs point to his return from a hamstring strain.
And Acuña? Gabe reports it’s possible he’s back in the big leagues as soon as Friday’s opener against the Padres.
Bring on the grenades.
‘NO KILLER INSTINCT’
What’s worse than an eight-match winless streak with little to no scoring? Well, for one: An eight-match winless streak with little to no scoring AND questionable effort levels.
Atlanta United manager Ronny Deila is, uh … well he’s real tired of that last part.
In a nearly four-minute spiel responding to Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Philadelphia, Deila dubbed the Five Stripes “weak.”
🫣 More from Deila: “We need to be honest, we are soft in both boxes. There is no killer instinct. I just feel that the longer the match goes, we get more and more passive. We come out with a good energy, we are all over them and then we get control, but you just see it drop and drop consistently until you wonder when the assassin is coming to stab you.”
Colorful! And seemingly accurate.
- United has conceded six goals in the first half this season. In the second half? Eighteen.
DREAM ANALYSIS
What did we learn from the Atlanta Dream’s season-opening loss to the Washington Mystics?
- Rookie Te-Hina Paopao can play.
- Brittney Griner is still a threat.
- Defensive miscues and turnovers will never not hurt.
The Dream tries to find the win column again on Tuesday, when it visits Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.
WEEKEND WONDERPERSON
Credit: Courtesy photo/UGAAA
Credit: Courtesy photo/UGAAA
The moment on Mondays when Sports Daily recognizes an exceptional performance from the non-workweek. The honor can go to a single person, a whole team or something in between.
Lots of candidates on the collegiate front this week: Georgia Tech baseball clinched a regular season ACC title, while Georgia baseball sealed up a primo tournament seed. Bulldog softball won its NCAA regional, too.
🏆 But I’m giving the honors to UGA women’s tennis, which dominated Texas A&M to win its first national championship since 2000.
NATIONAL SHADE
😏 The NBA’s conference final matchups are all set: Knicks-Pacers in the East, Thunder-Timberwolves in West. Both series should be a lot of fun.
- Naturally, Hawks guard Trae Young took the opportunity tweak the New York faithful: “Hot take but not.. OKC fans are louder than Knick fans. Happy Sunday!”
😬 Scottie Sheffler was tied with Jon Rahm entering the back nine Sunday at the PGA Championship. He won by five strokes anyway.
- With the tournament in Charlotte, the PGA Tour apparently made an Instagram post pointing out that Scheffler has more wins than the local NFL team since 2022. Ouch.
🙄 Mets slugger Juan Soto went 1-for-10 in his first series against the Yankees since fleeing for Queens.
- He also backed out of an in-game mic appearance and didn’t speak to reporters afterward. What a guy!
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Stephanie Scarbrough/AP
Credit: Stephanie Scarbrough/AP
A horse named Journalism is a good horse. And, as journalist Sam Stein described on social media, this equine’s Preakness-winning performance was pretty true to his namesake enterprise.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
If there is symbolism in Journalism's Preakness win, it's that the horse looked lost, stumbled, couldn't quite find the lane, struggled to get a lede down and then it all sort of came together right before the deadline.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of Sports Daily. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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