Ronald

Acuña Jr.

Acuña, who played through a right knee issue for most of the series, finished 2-for-15 with zero extra-base hits as Atlanta’s season came to an end at the hands of the back-to-back defending World Series champions. The 28-year-old stalwart remains one of the more impactful power/speed combo threats in the fantasy landscape and will be an early-round pick in fantasy leagues next spring, despite his seemingly omnipresent injury concerns.

There were some rumblings after Game 3 that Acuña Jr. would have to DH again in Game 4 due to soreness in his right knee. However, he had an MRI after the game, which apparently cleared him to be able to return to the field. With Acuña Jr. in the outfield, Sean Murphy will catch and bat ninth, and Drake Baldwin will DH. Mike Yastrzemski will also re-enter the lineup in left field with Ha-Seong Kim heading back to the bench.

Acuña left the ballpark without talking to the media after going 0-for-3 with a walk as a DH in Game 3. If he can’t play the outfield in Game 4, the Braves will probably start Lane Thomas in right field, and it would mean Drake Baldwin would need to catch again, keeping Sean Murphy on the bench.

Acuña appeared to suffer the injury when he slid feet-first into second on a stolen base attempt during Game 2 in Los Angeles. The 28-year-old franchise cornerstone remains in Atlanta’s lineup at DH to face Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 3 at Truist Park on Wednesday evening. It’ll be Lane Thomas heading out to take his spot in right field. It doesn’t appear to be a significant concern, but the Braves clearly aren’t going to take any chances by exposing him to additional wear and tear from a defensive standpoint that would jeopardize his availability moving forward in the postseason.

It’s the first start of the series for Smith, who has appeared as a pinch-hitter and struck out in each of the first two games. Mike Yastrzemski will also return to the starting lineup for Game 3 after sitting in Game 2. Sean Murphy and Ha-Seong Kim will open the game on the bench for the Braves. Here’s the full lineup that the Braves will deploy in a must-win game against Phillies’ right-hander Aaron Nola: Drake Baldwin (C), Ronald Acuña Jr. (RF), Matt Olson (1B), Michael Harris II (CF), Mauricio Dubon (SS), Mike Yastrzemski (LF) Austin Riley (3B), Ozzie Albies (2B) and Dominic Smith (DH)

This may not seem noteworthy, but Acuña Jr. has led off just three times since September 8th. That role is mostly held by Drake Baldwin. Baldwin will DH and hit second in this one, with Sean Murphy entering the lineup as the catcher and hitting eighth.

Braves’ skipper Walt Weiss is using Sunday to give several of his regulars a day off in advance of the start of the postseason, with Acuña, Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II all sitting. Brewer Hicklen will start in Acuña’s place in right field and will bat eighth against Marlins’ right-hander Janson Junk.

Acuña left Tuesday’s game and was held out of Wednesday’s game because of a shin contusion.

Atlanta manager Walt Weiss told reporters Acuña is available off the bench, if needed, but they want to give him an extra day to recover after fouling a ball off his left shin during Tuesday’s game. It’ll be Brewer Hicklen taking over in right field in his place on Wednesday evening. The positive news here is that X-rays and a CT scan came back negative for any fractures and he should be ready for the outset of the postseason.

Acuña is officially day-to-day after preliminary X-rays came back negative for any fractures. It’s a massive relief for the postseason-bound Braves after one of their franchise cornerstones fouled a ball off his lower left leg during the third inning of Tuesday’s series opener against Cincinnati. Early indications are that Acuña managed to avoid serious injury, but he might need a couple days off to rest and recover before returning to Atlanta’s lineup.