The Braves brought Ronald Acuña Jr. back from the 10-day injured list on July 27, and they did it in time for the opener against the Mets tonight. To make room, they optioned Brewer Hicklen to Triple-A Gwinnett.
It is the kind of move Atlanta has been waiting on since early June, when Acuña went down with a hamstring strain. Buster Olney of reported the move before the official announcement, and the timing matters because the Braves are getting their best healthy offensive piece back on the day they need him most.
Acuña returns with real production behind him, not just name value. Before the latest setback, he was hitting.251/.373/.421 with seven home runs, 10 doubles, a triple and 15 stolen bases in 22 attempts, numbers that still showed how much he was affecting games even while managing his body. He had already missed just over two weeks during his first hamstring-related absence this year, then felt renewed symptoms three weeks after that previous activation and landed back on the injured list for a second time in 2026.
That is the part Atlanta cannot ignore. A second hamstring injury in the same season is not a small detour, especially for a player whose game depends on explosiveness. The Braves are activating him anyway, which tells you how urgent the roster picture has become and how much they need his presence to stabilize the lineup.
The offense had not held up well without him. Atlanta hitters were batting.236/.303/.392 since Acuña was placed on the injured list, and the Braves’ 90 wRC+ in that stretch ranked 24th in the majors. That drop helps explain why the club is searching for help in more than one place, even with the trade deadline looming next Monday. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has already said the Braves would jump at the chance to add a playoff-caliber starting pitcher and that they still need another bat and some bullpen help.
His return also gives Walt Weiss more room to sort out the outfield and the corners. With Acuña back, Weiss can more strictly platoon Mike Yastrzemski and Mauricio Dubón in one corner spot, while Dubón can move out of the outfield after playing almost exclusively there during Acuña’s absence. Jim Jarvis had been handling shortstop recently, but his bat cooled after a fast first week in the big leagues, which makes every bit of lineup flexibility matter more.
The move does not answer the one question that now matters most: how freely the Braves will use Acuña in the opener. They have him back on the roster, and they needed the jolt, but his second hamstring injury this year leaves Atlanta balancing urgency against caution every time he steps on the field.
