Ronald Acuña Ripped Freddie Freeman During Instagram Live Interview
Wednesday night, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña was caught up in a massive controversy on the eve of the 2022 MLB season. Reports surfaced that Acuña had blasted former Atlanta Braves teammate Freddie Freeman on Instagram live. Acuña quickly claimed he didn't actually say what he was accused of, but the video never lies.
An account called Baseball GIFs claimed Acuña said he wouldn't miss Freeman. It claimed the 24-year-old had friction with his veteran teammate, and Freeman didn't defend Acuña when the Miami Marlins repeatedly threw at him. Furthermore, Acuña allegedly said Freeman was overbearing and wasn't someone he could ever talk to.
Ronald Acuña Jr. was just on IG Live and according to our resident bilingual r/Braves user, he said:
— Baseball GIFs ??? (@gifs_baseball) April 7, 2022
- He won't miss Freddie Freeman.
- They had friction.
- Freeman didn't care when he was plunked.
- He was overbearing.
- He wasn't someone Ronald could talk to ever.
Obviously a tweet from "Baseball GIFs" isn't enough to get anyone riled up. But Yancen Pujols, who conducted the interview, backed up the information:
Can confirm ? https://t.co/lA7DGHPiie
— Yancen Pujols (@YancenPujols) April 7, 2022
Ronald said he won’t miss Freddie Freeman, said he wasn’t nice to him in his rookie year and even talked about the rookie hazing. The hit by pitch stuff was something I mentioned first. GN.
— Yancen Pujols (@YancenPujols) April 7, 2022
Hector Gomez also confirmed the content of Acuña's comments.
I was in the IG live and I can confirm every single word in the tweet.
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) April 7, 2022
Then Acuña quickly swooped in to deny he ever said anything of the sort:
I NEVER SAY THAT ???
— Ronald Acuna Jr (@ronaldacunajr24) April 7, 2022
Unfortunately for Acuna, someone posted video from the interview on Instagram:
Look, my spanish isn't perfect, but I understood enough of that. He definitely took shots at Freeman. Gomez's translation is the most accurate we saw:
"I won't miss Freddie Freeman. We had friction, he didn't care when I was plunked. Freddie was overbearing and he wasn't someone I could talk to ever", Ronald Acuña Jr. on Freddie Freeman in an interview with @YancenPujols. pic.twitter.com/Nzc991i94t
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) April 7, 2022
Freeman is now a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the burgeoning rivalry between the Braves and the boys in blue just got taken up a notch.