Ronald Acuna Jr. Diagnosed with Calf Injury After Exiting Braves' Loss to Royals

Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. seemingly avoided a major injury after exiting Tuesday's game against the Kansas City Royals.

Acuña, who exited the game in the sixth inning with what the Braves initially considered an Achilles injury, has a Grade 1 lower-right calf strain, per The Athletic's David O'Brien.

After Acuña exited Tuesday's loss to the Royals, he was seen wearing a walking boot and was placed on the injured list.

"It's an Achilles thing, it's going to take a while," manager Brian Snitker told reporters after a 9-6 loss to the Royals. "He'll go on the IL, and hopefully in 10 days or so it'll clear up."

Acuña said he initially felt pain when he was running the bases during the Braves' matchup with the Royals on Monday.

"It happened when I scored from first to home on that play," he said through an interpreter. "They are going to examine me tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes."

That pain intensified when he was tracking down a foul ball before he exited Tuesday's game.

"It was hurting even more," Acuña said. "I was kind of out there hoping they wouldn't hit it my way, and of course any time you do that, they always hit it your way."

The good news for Acuña is that a Grade 1 strain shouldn't cost him too much time, though Atlanta doesn't have much of a need for him to rush back and risk further injury.

The Braves are 45-62 and sitting 13.5 games back in the wild card race. Barring a late-season surge, Atlanta will likely be a no show in the postseason this year.

Acuña, the 2023 NL MVP and a five-time All-Star, missed the first 49 games of the season while recovering from the second torn ACL of his career. He's been outstanding since his return, hitting 14 homers and 26 RBI with a .306 batting average and a 1.005 OPS in 55 games.