Ronald Acuña Jr. Backpedaling Rapidly After Ripping Freddie Freeman
Ronald Acuña Jr. is once again asking you to ignore his own words about former Atlanta Braves teammate Freddie Freeman.
Wednesday night during an Instagram Live interview, Acuña claimed he wouldn't miss Freeman, the two had friction, that Freeman was overbearing and that Acuña didn't feel like he could ever talk to Freeman.
"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
Immediately after the comments were reported, Acuña took to Twitter to deny them.
I NEVER SAY THAT ???
— Ronald Acuna Jr (@ronaldacunajr24) April 7, 2022
Unfortunately for Acuña, video of the interview soon surfaced.
In the clubhouse before Thursday's Opening Day game, Acuña attempted to downplay those comments, by claiming they were taken out of context and exaggerated. He claimed he didn't say anything bad about Freeman, that he was only discussing what happened in 2018 when Acuña was a rookie.
Ronald Acuña Jr. spoke in the Braves clubhouse re: his Instagram live comments. He said his comments were exaggerated and blown out of proportion. Here are some highlights, w/his answers translated directly from Spanish pic.twitter.com/xIhUbAppv0
— Maria Torres (@maria_torres3) April 7, 2022
Acuña did say he didn't regret saying he wouldn't miss Freeman, because Freeman chose to sign with another team (the Dodgers). The 24-year-old outfielder further said he didn't regret anything he said and that they were only blown out of proportion because he said them.
That is a rapid backpedal from Acuña, and given the translations of his original comments, he's not being truthful. Maybe he got carried away in the interview and didn't want to let go with as much as he did, but if he regrets his comments he should just say so instead of blaming others for reporting them accurately.
Unloading that kind of criticism the night before MLB Opening Day was not a smart move by Acuña. This one will hang around for a while.