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The Atlanta Braves seem to have found their footing as of late, now sitting just two games below the .500 mark after a recent extra innings win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves had an awful start to this year, stumbling out of the gates to an 0-7 record, but have since seen the schedule lighten up a bit and some of their bats wake up.
The Braves have also been dealt their fair share of injury concerns this season, including to pitcher Craig Kimbrel, who was brought back for his second stint with the franchise this past offseason.
Recently, MLB insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today revealed the concerning reason why Kimbrel isn't back with the big club yet.
“Atlanta is in no hurry to call up veteran closer Craig Kimbrel, whose fastball has been clocked at only 91-92 mph in his first two outings at Triple-A,” reported Nightengale.
In addition to Kimbrel, the Braves are also anxiously awaiting the returns of pitcher Spencer Strider and former league MVP Ronald Acuna Jr.
Acuna recently made headlines by accusing manager Brian Snitker of using a double standard when it comes to calling out players, or not calling them out, for failing to run hard after thinking they had hit a home run.
The controversy started when Jarred Kelenic believed he had hit a home run in a recent game which turned out to come up short, and was tagged out at second base. He subsequently returned to the game, whereas when Acuna found himself in a similar position in 2019, he was benched for the rest of the day.
Acuna called out the hypocrisy with a since-deleted social media post.
Still, on the field, the Braves have managed to start stringing together some wins after a brutal start to the year, and that figures to only increase as they return more and more players from injury.
The Braves will wrap up their series with the Diamondbacks on Sunday at 4:10 PM ET from Arizona.
