Acuña does not play, but accompanies the Braves

HOUSTON – Much has been said, rightly so, about the key acquisitions the Braves and GM Alex Anthopolous made after the injuries of Ronald Acuña Jr., Mike Soroka and Stephen Vogt, among others.

In Game 1 of the World Series between Atlanta and Houston, the contributions of three of them — Cuban Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall and Puerto Rican Eddie Rosario — were seen to contribute to the Braves’ triumph.

However, the Atlanta organization has honored the figures who are missing the action right now, taking the Venezuelan Acuña Jr., Soroka and Vogt to the Fall Classic to accompany the team and also to enjoy the atmosphere of the great event of the baseball.

“We wanted the whole world to be a part of this,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said about it. “I am happy that these guys can be here, to experience this with their teammates.

“Ronald was a big part of this, before he got hurt. I want them to live it, because they are part of this club ”.

Catcher Vogt, who replaced an injured Travis d’Arnaud for a time, later suffered a sports hernia. Right-hander Soroka didn’t pitch a pitch in 2021 due to a right Achilles tendon injury.

But the most sensitive casualty, of course, was that of Acuña Jr., who was hitting .283 / .394 / .596 with 24 homers, 17 stolen bases, .990 OPS and 155 OPS + when he suffered an anterior ligament tear. crossed right on July 10. The 23-year-old is a cornerstone of the Atlanta franchise and when he was hurt, almost everyone gave up on the Braves’ season.

We already know what happened at the end of that month, when Anthopolous made trades to acquire Soler, Rosario, Duvall and Joc Pederson.

“Obviously we would have loved to have Ronald with us,” Snitker said. “We would love to have a lot of the guys. But it’s good that he can come, feel this and experience it. “

With the new quartet of outfielders, the Braves detached themselves from the rest of their rivals in the NL East and eliminated two big favorites from that circuit, the Brewers and the Dodgers, in the playoffs.

“I think we’ve all done a good job,” said Soler, who hit 14 home runs with an .882 OPS in 55 games for Atlanta down the stretch of the regular season. “I am grateful to be here and to be a member of this organization. They welcomed me with open arms.

“There was good chemistry in the clubhouse and now, it feels like the only goal is trying to win the games.”