There was no way Ronald Acuña Jr. was leaving Game 2 of the NLDS between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies despite being hit by pitch in the contest.
Acuña emphasized as much after helping lead the Braves to a 3-0 victory in the said MLB playoffs showdown. The 24-year-old took a fastball to his right elbow off Zack Wheeler's pitch at the bottom of the sixth inning, causing much pain as he immediately ran to the Atlanta dugout to get his hand examined.
However, Braves manager Brian Snitker decided to keep him in the contest as he eventually walked to first base. He went on to score their first run following Matt Olson's RBI single.
Speaking with FOX Sports after their win, Acuña referenced his ACL tear that kept him out in the Braves' World Series run last season as his motivation to stay despite being hurt.
“I already missed one postseason, I'm not going to miss another one,” the young slugger said.
For what it's word, Snitker also shared the rationale for keeping Ronald Acuña Jr. in the game. The Braves manager pointed out that they had it checked and there was no immediate concern, especially since Acuña was already recovering at that point.
Article Continues BelowSnitker did say he expects it to be a little painful moving forward, though.
“Best thing that happened was he scored,” Snitker said, via Sporting News. “When we had a little time to get him downstairs and check him out and he was throwing into the cage. I think the longer he was there, the more he was getting feeling back.
“I'm sure it's going to be sore. It's probably good that we have a day off (Thursday), we can treat him up. But the good news is there wasn't anything structural or anything like that upon our examination.”
Hopefully for Ronald Acuña Jr., his hand won't be much of an issue when they resume the MLB playoffs series on Friday. The Braves really need him if they want to get the series lead against the Phillies.