Winning does not equal friendship apparently as Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. did not hold back in an interview with journalist Yancen Pujols when talking about ex-teammate Freddie Freeman. Freeman left the current World Series champions in favor of a mega six-year deal worth $162 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Acuña was having a career year in 2021 until an injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season before the All-Star break. The Atlanta Braves would go on with Freeman and company to win the 2021 World Series in six games over the Houston Astros.
In the Instagram live interview with Yancen Pujols the outfielder shined light that he and Freeman did not see eye to eye at times and had “clashes” during their time together. Here is what Ronald Acuña Jr had to say about Freddie Freeman.
Ronald Acuña Jr on relationship with Freddie Freeman
Freddie Freeman #5 of the Los Angeles Dodgers (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Ronald Acuña Jr did not flat-out say he did not like Freeman but alluded to instances where when he came up from the minors “a lot of veteran players did not like the way I looked (carried himself)”. Acuña also stated he was not close at all with Freeman and all they did was “share the same stadium”.
“When you come up as a rookie, there’s always someone who wants to stick it to you. 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 as 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 office 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.”
Acuña added, “I can’t say anything, you know? I just said, ‘One day I’ll be a veteran.’ I’m not saying I’m a veteran right now, but nobody’s gonna take the eye black off my face now, you know?”
The Atlanta Braves begin the 2022 MLB season against the Cincinnati Reds in a four-game series.
