The Atlanta Braves have their next course of actions for Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider ready to go.
They are sending the star right fielder to his rehab assignment starting Tuesday at the complex in North Port, Fla. He’ll be batting and playing in the outfield with no set timeline for his rehab.
“It’ll be a day-to-day thing there too,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “They’ll reevaluate him again like anybody the day after and see how he feels, but it’ll just be good to get him running around in the outfield again.”
There is no scenario where Acuña goes from the complex to Atlanta. A trip to Triple-A Gwinnett as part of his rehab assignment is guaranteed.
Acuña has been out for nearly a year due to an ACL tear in his left knee. He’s now had the injury and procedure in both knees, so the Braves are being as cautious as they can to ensure he comes back fully healthy and able to play at full strength.
Strider will pitch in a simulated game on Wednesday. The goal is to get him five or six “innings” of work. Ideally, they get him to between 70 and 75 pitches.
They want to check him out in the controlled environment where they can monitor his pitch count and any potential fatigue.
The Braves will see how he feels after that and decide if he’s ready to return to the team. They have to keep this long string of games in mind. The Braves have played every day since May 2 and the next off day is May 19. The bullpen has little room to catch its breath and sending Strider out there when he isn’t able to eat enough innings could exacerbate the pressure on the relief core.
There was no mention of potentially returning this weekend while out in Boston playing the Red Sox. A simulated game on Wednesday sounds like it effectively rules that option out.
Strider has been out with a hamstring injury ahead of his second start of the season. He had just returned from recovering from a UCL injury.
