When Ronald Acuña Jr returned from his first ACL injury in 2022, it was clear almost immediately he was not the same guy who was the best player in baseball the first half of 2021. And we wouldn’t see that guy again until Acuña had a full offseason, a full spring training, and a fully healthy regular season, all which happened in 2023, which led to him unanimously winning the NL MVP that season. So when Acuña tore his second ACL in May of 2024, it was clear he was going to return in 2025, but it wasn’t clear which version of him would return in 2025.

The team was also aware of this. President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos mentioned several times over the offseason how slowly and cautiously they were going to proceed with Acuña this time around, even proclaiming almost immediatel

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