Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. is day-to-day with a left shoulder contusion, the result of being plunked in the first inning of Monday’s nightcap with the New York Mets.
Acuna left three pitches into the second game of Monday’s doubleheader not long after a 93-mph fastball from Mets starter Tylor Megill ran way up and way in. Acuna hit the dirt after being hit by the 0-2 pitch and was immediately replaced in the lineup by Kevin Pillar.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said the team sent Acuna to a nearby hospital for additional tests after stadium X-rays showed no bone damage.
“You just want to make sure,” Snitker said.
In 67 career games against the Mets, Acuna has 81 hits, 14 home runs, 41 RBIs and a .309 batting average. He’s been hit by a pitch four times in 297 plate appearances.
Braves pitchers plunked the Mets three times in the opener, a 9-8 win by the Braves. Acuna went 3-for-5 in Game 1, including a 448-foot monster shot that landed in the third seating deck in left-center field.
Acuna, 25, is batting .363 with five home runs and 26 runs so far this season.
–Field Level Media