ATLANTA — Don’t count Ronald Acuña Jr. among the Atlanta players who will be missing Freddie Freeman as the Braves open their season.
Acuña said in an Instagram Live interview he had no feelings for Freeman, the former longtime Braves first baseman who helped lead Atlanta to the World Series championship last year and then signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Asked if he would miss Freeman, Acuña replied “Me? Nothing.”
Added Acuña, according to a translation of the interview in Spanish conducted by Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times: “We just shared the same stadium. … We had several clashes.”
Acuña is the first Atlanta player to have anything but praise for Freeman, the 2020 NL MVP.
Many of Freeman’s teammates openly lobbied for the Braves to re-sign the free agent. When Atlanta would not offer more than five years, the first baseman signed a $162 million, six-year deal with Los Angeles.
The Braves countered by trading for Matt Olson, who is four years younger than Freeman, and quickly signing Olson to a $168 million, eight-year deal. Olson now joins Acuña as foundation players for the Braves.
Freeman was extremely popular with fans and most teammates. But Acuña said in the Instagram Live interview, conducted in Spanish, he wasn’t warmly welcomed as a rookie by some veteran players.
“It’s something that happens all the time,” Acuña said. “When you come up as a rookie, with your flow. There’s always someone who wants to put you in your place. You put your eye black, your sunglasses, your hat a little crooked. A lot of people doesn’t like it and yourself don’t see it as being bad because it’s part of the game. Lots of veterans did that to me.
“When I came up in 2018, they used a swipe and cleaned it up. I couldn’t say anything. I will be a veteran one day. I’m not saying I’m a veteran today, but no one is going to come and take something off my face today.”
Acuña didn’t name Freeman as one of the veteran players who disapproved of his style as a rookie.
Acuña is recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee suffered midway through last season and is on the injured list as the Braves open their season against Cincinnati on Thursday night. The Braves hope Acuña can return in May.
