While Braves fans were sad to see their longtime star go, the sorrow doesn’t appear to be universal.
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In an Instagram Live interview Wednesday conducted in Spanish, Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. said he and Freeman sometimes butted heads, saying they had “choque,” or conflict. Acuña also said “nada” when asked if they spoke frequently, and he added that he wouldn’t miss Freeman.
Acuña specifically spoke about how Freeman and other teammates were strict about things like eye black or wearing his hat low when Acuña was a rookie. “Nobody’s going to take the eye off my face now, you know?” Acuña said in Spanish, per a translation by ESPN’s Alden González.
Acuña, who is on the 10-day injured list as he continues to recover from an ACL tear he suffered last year, was asked about his comments Thursday before the Braves’ season opener. He downplayed the drama but doubled down on what he said.
Through a translator (per Justin Toscano the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Acuña said: “To be honest, I think it was just exaggerated and blown out of proportion by the media,” He added that the events in question occurred in 2018 when Acuña was a rookie. He said this after he tweeted on Wednesday that he never said he wouldn’t miss Freeman.
Freeman was asked to respond to Acuña’s comments as he was being interviewed by MLB Network on Thursday. He skirted the topic of conflict.
Similar rules exist in other organizations, most famously the Yankees’ bans on long hair and beards rule. But it is also easy to see why Acuña might have clashed with Freeman.
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Freeman, who was raised in the game by old-school stars like Brian McCann and Chipper Jones, has been known to take issue with home run celebrations in the past. Acuña, conversely, has no issue flipping his bat after hitting a no-doubter.
Acuña is right about one thing: No one is going to tell him to do much different anymore. The two-time All Star is one of baseball’s most exciting players when healthy, and as Freeman said at the end of his comments above, “the game of baseball needs him.”
