Making the noise even after not being on the field – that’s Ronald Acuna Jr.’s power! Recovering from a season-ending ACL rupture, the MVP outfielder radiated his presence in the community just by his fingertips on X. And this time, it surrounded the Atlanta Braves with neck-deep controversy.

Just to remind you of what happened: A really slow play by Jarred Kelenic on the bases during a Braves game against the Twins on Sunday.

Well, for someone like Brian Snitker, who has been managing the team for 10 seasons, such hustle-less events used to have players benched without thinking twice. This time, though? Nothing at all. Not even a public sidelong glance. And for Ronald Acuna Jr., observing from the sidelines, it rang the 2019 bells when Snitker benched him precisely for this kind of base-running mistake.

And what followed has been making the rounds. “If it were me, they would take me out of the game,” the viral, now-deleted post from Acuna on X. The message spread like wildfire. Now, a former baseball player turned MLB analyst has pitched in to support Ronald Acuna Jr.

Ben Verlander, an MLB analyst, podcaster, and the younger brother of Justin Verlander, dove directly into the topic without wasting a second on his Flippin’ Bats show. His take on Snitker got so fierce that it might have singed the stitching off a baseball. Verlander stated, “You are Brian Snitker. In 2019, you took [Acuña] out of the game. He was crucified publicly for it, and then in 2025, when your team is actually playing like c—, you have Jarred Kelenic who is hitting .180 and doing this, and you don’t use it as an example, you don’t use it as something to kick the team into high gear.”

Verlander directly questioned the team’s supposed double standard, or more precisely, Brian Snitker’s.

He continued, “You don’t publicly say anything, he needs to get better. You just say, ‘Was I supposed to?’ What do you mean you didn’t see it? You’re the manager of the team. You’re sitting on the top of the deck!” Ben Verlander seemed pretty annoyed by Snitker’s response, “Was I supposed to?” to Mark Bowman (MLB.com’s Braves reporter) when asked if he talked to Kelenic about the lack of hustle. Seems justified!

But does Brain Snitker had anything to say about Acuna’s X post? No. When asked about Acuna’s tweet, he simply said, “I heard about it as I was walking to the dugout. I heard something was up. I came in and they said it was down. I haven’t talked to him, so I don’t know.” 

And all of these have the MLB community buzzing. While some back Acuna’s point of view, others criticize his method.

Ronald Acuna Jr.’s critique and Francoeur’s response

Every narrative has two sides; former Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur presents a different viewpoint. Days after the X posts and incidents, when everyone questioned Snitker’s decision, Francoeur said what Acuna did was “stupid!” 

Francoeur said on Atlanta Braves Radio Network: “There are 26 guys in that locker room that are busting their a– every single day. Every single day.”  He further pointed out, “You finally get something going in your direction. And you got a guy who’s supposed to be your teammate, tweeting, probably out in LA, something that is completely meaningless and stupid.” 

The tone of Francoeur was personal, not only critical. He stuck to the point that Acuna’s timing couldn’t have been worse, particularly given the team’s struggle for consistency. Although he recognized Acuna as a great talent, he questioned the wisdom of sharing locker room frustrations online rather than keeping them under house control. To Francoeur, the medium was more important than the message, which affected team bonding.

Was that it? Apparently not! He also pointed out the reason why Ronald Acuna Jr. was benched.

Francoeur dismissed comparisons between Acuna’s 2019 benching and Kelenic’s 2025 incident. “And you want to go farther with context, Acuna was warned time after time after time. After time. Let’s talk, like, 10 times to run before he ever got yanked. This is the first time Jarred Kelenic has ever done it. Now, real quick, do I think Snit’s answer to it was great? Probably not, probably not. He probably also didn’t expect after winning two games in a row, this is what he was going to be talking about.”

Probably not dismissing everything that came from Ronald Acuna Jr. or what happened on the field last Saturday against the Minnesota Twins. But maybe, Jeff Francoeur has a point: Things could’ve been handled a bit sensitively.

Now, with Ronald Acuna Jr. coming back to the bullpen in early May from his injury, it will be interesting to see how the team welcomes him, and more importantly, will Brian Snitker be able to move on from this controversy?