Fantasy Baseball Impact of Ronald Acuna Jr. Injury | Braves Players to Watch and Acuna's Fantasy Outlooks

After some big-time injuries early in the MLB season, things slowed on the injury front for a little while. However, the league was dealt arguably its biggest blow of the season when Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. tore the ACL in his left knee on Sunday.

Acuna will miss the rest of the season, leaving the Braves without one of their top hitters and the MLB without one of its most exciting players.

Let’s take a look at what the Acuna injury means from a fantasy perspective.

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Acuna’s Season Stats/Fantasy Value

Acuna was not replicating his insane numbers from the 2023 season, but he still was providing Atlanta with plenty of value.

In 49 games this season, Acuna hit .250 and got on base ast a .351 clip. He collected 48 total hits, 15 RBIs, 16 stolen bases and 38 runs. Acuna had 13 extra-base hits (including four home runs), 17 walks and 53 strikeouts.

Acuna was the No. 1 overall pick in most fantasy leagues this spring, and he certainly failed to live up to the preseason hype. Of course, he won’t be able to shake off the slow start now that he’s out for the season.

Braves Fantasy Outlook

With Acuna done for the season, Adam Duvall, Michael Harris II and Jarred Kelenic are the only three outfielders left on the active roster. Acuna had started 49 of the team’s first 50 games in right field. Duvall and Forrest Wall have also appeared in right field this season.

Wall might be the player called up when Acuna is officially placed on the injured list. Wall and J.P. Martinez are the only other outfielders on the 40-man roster, but Atlanta could add a player because Acuna will hit the 60-day IL.

Among the Braves’ top-30 prospects, only Jesse Franklin V is an outfielder with a 2024 ETA. 

Even though the Braves also lost Spencer Strider early in the season, it’s not like the team is going to go into a rebuild mode. If anything, I’d expect the Braves to try to acquire more outfield talent to help the team compete now. That might be in the form of adding a current free agent, or trading for a cheap veteran.

My guess is that Wall is called up for the short team, but that it’s likely for Harris to be flanked by Duvall and Kelenic in the outfield most days. Wall is certainly a player to keep an eye on though (if he’s the one who gets called up).

Acuna’s Fantasy Outlooks

We’ll start this section talking about Acuna’s fantasy value in redraft leagues, because it’s straightforward. With Acuna out for the season, he can be dropped from all fantasy teams. 

His dynasty outlook definitely takes a hit, especially considering this is his second ACL tear. The first ACL tear was in the other knee less than three years ago.

Most athletes make full recoveries from ACL tears, and Acuna has already shown he can do that, but that’s not the issue. The issue is that the injury has happened twice now (different knees), and his long-term fantasy outlook definitely takes a little hit.

He’s still just 26 years old, so he’s got several productive seasons ahead of him yet. But just the fact that the injury has occurred twice now is going to be hard to get out of fantasy owner’s minds.

A lot of current Acuna fantasy owners are probably at least going to put Acuna on the trade block to see what kinds of offers filter in. Most teams rostering Acuna are in win-now mode, and Acuna clearly won’t be of any help the rest of this season.

I still view Acuna as one of the top dynasty players in the game, but now I could make the argument for several other players being the top option too. Acuna still should net fantasy owners a good return if they still want to win this season and are fine with trading Acuna away.

At the very least, I’d at least entertain the idea of moving on from Acuna. Every player has injury risk, but Acuna definitely has the most risk now among the top dynasty fantasy players. Moving on now would remove any doubts you might have in your head.

At the same time, I’m not advocating for dynasty owners to trade Acuna immediately. I believe he’ll bounce back from this injury and become one of the top players in the game again soon. It all comes down to where your dynasty team sits right now and whether or not you can still win without Acuna, or need to possibly move him to have a chance. Choose wisely, and hopefully it’s a move that pays off for all parties in the long haul.