Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley working toward rejoining Braves' lineup

Gabriel Burns, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Aug 12, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — The Braves are patiently awaiting further augmentation for their offense.

The offense has finally awakened in the second half — too little too late — and that’s without outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. (calf) and third baseman Austin Riley (abdomen), both sidelined with injuries. Both players are with the team in New York.

“They’re still day-to-day,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Austin hasn’t been on the field yet; he’s just starting to amp up things. Ronald has been running around really good. We’ll see when they feel like he’s ready. He’ll be sooner than Austin, I think.”

Acuña, who’s been out since July 30, won’t require a rehab assignment before returning, Snitker said. He’s eligible to be activated and could rejoin the lineup in the coming days. Riley likewise won’t need a rehab stint but isn’t eligible to return until Thursday at the earliest.

Since returning from a torn ACL in late May, Acuña has been phenomenal. He was hitting .306 with a 1.005 OPS in 55 games, building a strong case as the National League’s best player during part of that stretch. Riley has endured a down season, however, posting a .737 OPS in 102 games.

The Braves opened a three-game series in Queens against the Mets on Tuesday. They’ll play three games this weekend in Cleveland before returning home for a six-game homestand against the White Sox and Mets.

Rotation plans

The Braves will stick with their six-man rotation moving forward, Snitker said. The team will be ready to pivot when necessary, but the intention is to continue deploying an expanded group of starters.

The team is currently using Spencer Strider, Joey Wentz, Erick Fedde, Bryce Elder, Carlos Carrasco and Hurston Waldrep as starters. Imagine being told that’d be the August rotation in back in March. One would probably (correctly) assume the Braves were buried in the standings.

“It’s going to be the ole ‘how we get there’ type thing,” Snitker said. “If we run into trouble and one of the starters is available, they may have to pitch out of the bullpen just to get us through. In a perfect world, it’d be nice to run six starters with what we have. But we’ll have to wait and see how each game is and where the need is.”

Fedde and Carrasco are journeymen who joined the team at a desperate point. Wentz, acquired off the scrap heap, has been a godsend and could be earning a role on next year’s club. Waldrep is making a similar case through two starts, appearing far readier for the majors than he looked a year ago.

Sale’s rehab start

Reigning Cy Young winner Chris Sale started a rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Gwinnett, but he remains a while from returning. It was important to Sale to return to the field despite the team’s place in the postseason picture because he’s already missed time over the years because of injuries and this can help prepare him for 2026.

Sale threw 30 pitches during his recent live batting practice. He was expected to pitch around three innings Tuesday, though Sale will have input on his workload. “He has to get built up, throw 75 to 80 pitches before we get him back here,” Snitker said.

Sale, sidelined by a fractured rib cage, hasn’t started a game since June 18.