Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. appeared to call out manager Brian Snitker in a social media post that the star outfielder quickly deleted on Sunday.
Braves outfielder Jarred Kelenic embarrassed himself during his team’s 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night when he went into a home run trot on a ball that was not a home run. The game was tied 3-3 in the top of the sixth inning when Kelenic lifted a high fly ball into deep right field off Twins right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson.
Kelenic thought he had hit a home run and slowly jogged down to first base. He had to hustle to second when the ball fell short of the wall and was tagged out. You can see the video here.
Following the game, Snitker was asked if he spoke with Kelenic about the lack of hustle. The manager essentially pleaded ignorance by replying “was I supposed to?”
— acuñaFC (@mattolsonlover) April 20, 2025
Snitker’s response did not sit well with Acuna. The four-time All-Star replied to a post about Snitker’s reaction and wrote, “If it were me, they would take me out of the game.” Acuna quickly deleted his post, but not before screenshots of it went viral.
Last night Jarred Kelenic was tagged out at 2nd base after admiring a ball in the batter’s box for too long
— Barstool Baseball (@StoolBaseball) April 20, 2025
Ronald Acuña has commented: pic.twitter.com/aiRe6TJ38e
Acuna is likely upset because he was benched in 2019 for doing the exact same thing that Kelenic did on Saturday. Snitker, who has been the manager of the Braves since 2016, did not mince words when asked why he pulled Acuna from the game. Acuna accepted the decision and held himself accountable.
Snitker had to have realized that Kelenic was thrown out at second base because of the outfielder’s premature home run trot. You can’t blame Acuna for being upset that two identical situations were handled so differently, though he probably should have kept his complaint in-house.
Acuna is making his way back from a torn ACL and has not yet played in 2025. He is expected to return to Atlanta’s lineup at some point next month.
