Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. had some interesting things to say about his former teammate Freddie Freeman. In an Instagram Live interview with Dominican journalist Yancen Pujols on Wednesday night, Acuña threw shade at Freeman who is now a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The interview was conducted in Spanish, but Alden Gonzalez of ESPN translated what was said.
Acuña told Pujols that “We were in that we shared the stadium but we had lots of clashes.” Acuña then explained, “When you come up as a rookie, there’s always someone who [wants to tell you how to do things]. You come up from the minor leagues with the big eye black, the sunglasses, the hat low, and a lot of people see that as wrong. And the other person doesn’t see it wrong because it’s part of the game. A lot of veterans [picked on me] when I was a rookie and they called me into the offices themselves and told me ‘No you can’t use that,’ and they took it off me with a towel like that. And I said ‘OK, that’s fine.”
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Acuña has since tweeted a denial in response to a tweet outlining the things said in the interview. Freeman has expressed his frustration with Acuña in the past. During a playoff game in 2019, Acuña recorded a single on a long flyball but thought it was a home run, which is why he didn’t run the play out. That led to Freeman letting reporters know he wasn’t happy with the play.
“It is frustrating,” Freeman said, per USA Today. “I think you have that conversation once. Kinda beat a dead horse if you keep having that same conversation over and over again. That can’t happen in the playoffs, can’t happen in the regular season.” Freeman signed a six-year contract with the Dodgers after spending his first 12 seasons with the Braves. In his career, Freeman was selected to the All-Star team five times, was named NL MVP in 2020 and led the Braves to a World Series title last year.
Acuña missed half the 2021 season due to a torn ACL. But before the injury, Acuña was on his way to winning the MVP award, hitting .283 with 24 home runs, 52 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 82 games. Since joining the Braves in 2018, Acuña has been selected to the All-Star team twice and was named Rookie of the Year.
