Brian Snitker Benches Ronald Acuña for Lack of Hustle: 'You've Got to Run'
Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. was benched during Sunday's victory against the Dodgers after he stood at the plate admiring a long flyball that did not leave the park.
Acuña, 21, was pulled before the fifth inning after failing to run out a drive off the right field wall in the third. The ball bounced off the wall for a long single, but Acuña likely would have had an easy double if he had hustled from home plate.
Manager Brian Snitker followed Acuña into the tunnel for a conversation during the fourth inning before Adam Duvall entered the game in left field in the fifth, with Rafael Ortega moving from left to center field.
"He didn't run. You've got to run,'' Snitker said. "It's not going to be acceptable here. As a teammate you're responsible for 24 other guys. That name on the front is a lot more important than the name on the back of that jersey. You can't do that. We're trying to accomplish something and do something special here and personal things have got to be put on the backburner. You just can't let your team down like that.''
Snitker added that Acuña handled the benching like a professional and "knew he screwed up."
An All-Star outfielder for the NL East leaders, Acuña admitted after the game that there was "no excuse" for the mistake and said that he respected Snitker's decision to bench him. He is expected to return to the Braves' lineup for the team's game against the Marlins on Tuesday.
Acuña is hitting .296 with 35 home runs and 85 RBIs, and he leads the NL with 29 stolen bases and 104 runs scored.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
