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Braves reinstate Ronald Acuna, Jr. (hamstring) ahead of schedule

By Thomson Reuters May 18, 2026 | 7:26 PM

The Atlanta Braves’ timeline to see five-time All-Star outfielder Ronald Acuna, Jr.in action got moved up by one full series.

The club reinstated Acuna ​from the 10-day injured list on Monday ‌in advance of its four-game series in Miami. Due to the turf at loanDepot park, manager Walt Weiss’ original plan was to wait until the Braves hosted the Nationals beginning on ‌Friday.

“The ​turf’s a little bit tougher ⁠on soft tissue, you ⁠know, hamstrings, quads, groins, type of thing,” Weiss said on Monday. “It’s a factor. It’s not the factor, but it’s part of the equation when you’re talking ​about activating somebody.

“But he’s doing well. He ran around today, and he’s certainly getting close. I ⁠would probably listen more like day ⁠to day at this point.”

Acuna wasn’t ​in the starting lineup, but is in uniform and available ​for pinch-hitting duty.

The club placed infielder Kyle Farmer ‌on the 10-day injured list with a strained right forearm as the corresponding move for Acuna.

Acuna suffered a strained left hamstring on May 2 while running out ⁠a ground ball in Colorado.

The nine-year veteran got off to a poor start in 2026, going 7 for 40 (.175) ⁠with one extra-base ‌hit in his first eleven games. ⁠But he climbed to a .252 average and .740 ​OPS ‌before suffering the injury.

Acuna needs 55 hits ​to reach ⁠1,000 in his career and 12 home runs to hit the 200 plateau. He owns a .901 career OPS in 851 games (2018-2026), despite missing major portions of four seasons (2021-22, 2024-25) after tearing his right (2021) and left (2024) ACLs ​respectively.

–Field Level Media