ATLANTA – Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. admitted there was an inner rift with former teammate Freddy Freeman throughout an interview late Wednesday, saying there was “nothing” he would miss about his first baseman.
Nevertheless, Akuna mentioned Thursday that the feedback “had been superb.”
Acuna, talking in Spanish to Dominican Republic-based sports activities reporter Jansen Pujols late Wednesday night time on Instagram Reside, was requested what he misses most about Freeman, who signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers final month after changing Braves with Matt Olson.
“me?” Akuna answered the query. “no factor.”
Akuna was then requested if he was near Freeman over the previous 4 seasons with the Braves, who’re knocked out by the world championships.
Akuna mentioned, “We had been near sharing the identical enjoying discipline, however we had loads, how do you say…”
“A number of clashes,” Pujols interrupted.
“Loads of clashes,” Akuna mentioned, nodding.
Acuna, who remains to be recovering from an ACL damage he suffered final season and is on the damage checklist, tried to downplay the feedback forward of Thursday night time’s opener in opposition to the Cincinnati Reds.
“Frankly, I feel the media is exaggerated and exaggerated,” Acuna mentioned by translator Franco Garcia on Thursday. “I did not say something dangerous [Freeman]. I didn’t respect him. … I talked about what occurred in 2018. That was up to now.”
In response to the interview Wednesday night time, the core of Akuna’s issues with Freeman, a five-time All-Star and 2020 Nationwide League Participant of the 12 months, arose out of disagreements throughout the 2018 season, when Akuna was a rookie.
“If you grow to be a newbie, there may be all the time somebody [wants to tell you how to do things]Akuna mentioned. I come from the minor leagues with an enormous black eye, sun shades, and a low hat, and lots of people discover this to be a mistake. And the opposite particular person would not see it improper as a result of it is a part of the sport.
“A number of outdated warriors [picked on me] Once I was a novice, they referred to as me into the workplace themselves and mentioned, “No, you may’t use that.” They usually took [the eye black] off me with a towel like that. And I mentioned, “Okay, that is advantageous.”
Then Pujols requested Acuna if he had remained silent.
“Sure, after all. I can not say something, ?” Acona mentioned. “I simply mentioned, ‘Sooner or later I will be a veteran. “I’m not saying I’m a veteran proper now, however nobody will ever take my black eye off my face now, ?”
Akuna tried once more on Thursday to downplay these feedback.
“He by no means managed me,” Akuna mentioned of Freeman. “He has a life and I’ve a life.”
When requested if he regretted saying he would not miss Freeman, Akuna mentioned he did not.
“I do not remorse it,” Akuna mentioned Thursday. “He signed with one other crew. He requested me what I’d miss about him. What ought to I miss in somebody on one other crew?”
Freeman and Dodgers open the season on the Colorado Rockies on Friday.
ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez contributed to this report.
