Braves’ Alex Anthopoulos delivers bad news about Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider

The trade of outfielder Jorge Soler provided the Atlanta Braves indirect hope that Ronald Acuña Jr. would be ready for opening day of the 2025 MLB season. But Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos poured cold water on that optimism on Tuesday.

Anthopoulos told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb during the MLB winter meetings that Acuña won’t be ready for Opening Day in 2025. Not only that, Anthopoulos said the same thing about right-handed pitcher Spencer Strider.

David O’Brien of the Athletic tweeted about the update Gelb received from the Braves general manager.

“First time he says they won’t be ready, even though he previously indicated it could be a month or two before Acuña would be ready,” O’Brien tweeted. “They will evaluate as they go.”

Despite the open-ended conclusion of the tweet, this is a disappointing update for Braves fans. That’s not too surprising considering Strider and Acuña suffered significant injuries in 2024, but still disappointing.

Strider struggles to return from Tommy John surgery. The typical recovery time from that procedure is. Strider went down his surgery on April 12.

Acuña suffered the second torn ACL of his career on May 26. His first ACL injury occurred on July 10, 2021. The following season, Acuña made his debut on April 28.

The fact that the right fielder’s ACL injury occurred earlier this year than in 2021 should give Braves fans hope that Acuña can take the field sooner than in 2022.

But what’s more complicated is that Acuña is recovering from his second major knee injury. The Braves will also most likely be cautious with their 2023 MVP, at least early in the season.

That could also be the case with Strider. As much as the Braves want both stars back as soon as possible, it’s far more important that they’re ready for the long-term run in 2025.