Braves: Could Ronald Acuña be ready for Opening Day?

Just before the All-Star break, Ronald Acuña suffered a devastating knee injury that would cost him the rest of the season. Somehow, the Braves were able to dig out of the hole they were in and win the World Series, but it would have been much sweeter had the most electrifying player in all of baseball been a part of it. Typically, torn ACLs take about a year to recover from, but we’ve seen some incredibly quick recoveries over the years with athletes, some as short as just eight months, which means Ronald Acuña might be ready for Opening Day.

The Braves will rightfully take things slowly with him, so I would be shocked if he was out there for the first pitch of the season. However, all reports are that his rehab is going as smooth as possible.

Ronald Acuna Jr. has made great progress from the terrible injury he suffered on July 10, when he suffered a complete ACL tear in his right knee after attempting a leaping catch in right field.@Braves pic.twitter.com/E6aiwqk8xW

— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) November 14, 2021

The Braves official Twitter account also posted this yesterday, featuring a quote from Acuña himself.

“If I was giving 500% before, I’m about to start giving 1,000%” – @ronaldacunajr24 pic.twitter.com/yns0k2WVy0

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) November 18, 2021

On top of that, Alex Anthopoulos was asked about Acuña’s progress a week ago, and he did not count out a potential return on Opening Day.

Anthopoulos also said that it's too early to know if Acuña might be ready by beginning of the season, or if return date could go into May. And he said timetable on Soroka return is loose, mentioning July as possibility since it's a one-year return usually from Achilles surgery.

— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) November 11, 2021

The fact that we are even discussing this is pretty jaw-dropping, but should we really expect anything else? From the moment Acuña put on a Braves uniform, he’s done superhuman things on the field, so why would anything change in the rehab process? This guy isn’t like you or me; he’s built different, and I’m no longer counting out a potential return on Opening Day.