Braves' Ronald Acuna Day-to-Day After Exiting vs. Phillies with Hand Injury

Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. left Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies after being hit by a pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning. The team announced X-rays were negative and the MVP candidate is considered day-to-day with a left pinky finger contusion. 

Phillies reliever Sam Coonrod threw a pitch up and in that appeared to hit Acuna on the hand:

Losing Acuna for any period of time would be a huge blow to the Braves. 

The 23-year-old is an essential piece of the lineup for Atlanta, which is 15-17 and 2.5 games out of first place in the NL East entering Saturday night. 

Through 30 games, he is slashing .321/.414/.670, with the last figure leading the league. His 10 homers are tied with J.D. Martinez and Shohei Ohtani for most in MLB. 

Acuna is following up his second consecutive Silver Slugger campaign, and he also earned his first All-Star nod in 2019, a year after being named Rookie of the Year. 

The Venezuelan had an early exit against the Chicago Cubs on April 18 because of a mild abdominal strain, but he stayed off of the injured list and was pegged with a day-to-day designation. He had another injury scare in September, when he took a foul ball off the ankle but was in the lineup the next day. 

Acuna's durability and consistency have made him virtually irreplaceable, and the Braves will now turn to Ehire Adrianza in right field.