​Braves should be concerned about Ronald Acuna Jr. trend that continued in 2026 originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The Atlanta Braves are heading towards the 2026 MLB postseason with plenty of optimism, though their starting rotation could use a bit more stability behind Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle.But with the postseason right around the corner, there is one issue that the Braves and their fans should be a bit concerned about going forward with Ronald Acuna Jr.ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle highlighted Acuna’s injury issues this year, and in years past, as a career trend that’s unfortunately continued and should be of great concern for the Braves.Ronald Acuna Jr. trend should worry Braves”Injuries have once again beset Acuna, whose prime seasons are starting to run short,” Doolittle writes. “… Acuna’s career is starting to become one of what might have been. Let’s hope that trend doesn’t continue.”Acuna, at his peak, is an MVP-level outfielder who can be the best player in baseball. He reached that potential in 2023, posting 8.4 bWAR with 217 hits, 41 homers, 106 RBIs, 73 stolen bases, and a 1.012 OPS en route to an MVP award.He played in 159 games that season, but has only once played close to that many games at any other time in his career, with 156 games during his 2019 season.Acuna, if he plays at least two more games in 2026, will reach 100 games played in a season for just the fifth time in his nine-year MLB career.MORE: Why Braves could trade Spencer Strider this upcoming offseasonHe’s missed a lot of time during his MLB career, and even though he’s poised to play 100-plus games in 2026, he’s still not going to play enough games to warrant considering this a full season.In his career, Acuna has only played 120 or more games two times. When he does play that many games, he’s been an MVP-caliber player. But too many times during his career he’s fallen short.At 28 years old, Acuna has shown a worrying trend during his career of being unable to consistently play a full season. If this trend continues, Acuna’s sky-high potential might be hard to come by again during his career, which would be a massive disappointment.More MLB news:Tatsuya Imai predicted not to opt out of $36M Astros contractPhillies’ Jesus Luzardo on track to be best road pitcher in MLB history since 1913MLB insider accuses Shohei Ohtani of misleading Dodgers about injury issuesMariners not likely to pick up $9M option on Victor Robles this offseasonBrewers’ Jacob Misiorowski makes all kinds of MLB history with 1,000 pitches of 100 mph