Atlanta Braves star OF Ronald Acuña Jr. has been happily married to his longtime girlfriend, Maria Laborde, since Aug 31, 2023. The couple had dated for more than three years before tying the knot in a private wedding ceremony. They are proud parents to two sons, Ronald Daniel Acuna Laborde, who was born in September 2020, and Jamal, who was born two years later in 2022.
Together, the Acuñas reside in Atlanta, GA, where the 2023 NL MVP has been playing professional baseball with the Braves since 2018. Injuries have plagued the outfielder in recent seasons, which has reduced his playing time considerably. While he missed the entirety of the 2024 MLB season due to a left ACL tear, the Venezuelan is currently making positive strides in rehab in an attempt to join the roster this season.
Maria Laborde Shares Ronald Acuña Jr.’s Positive Rehab Outing
On Thursday, Acuña Jr. made his first official rehab outing with the Gwinnett Stripers, who are the official Triple-A minor league affiliates of the Braves. The Stripers played the game against the Charlotte Knights, who are the Triple-A affiliates of the Chicago White Sox, at the Coolray Field in GA.
Acuña was impressive in his maiden rehab outing with the Stripers and finished the contest with two hits in three at-bats. Maria celebrated the rehab outing by sharing a video of Acuna Jr.’s first hit from the game on her Instagram story.
Despite a decent performance by the four-time All-Star, the Stripers lost the game 7-1 to the Knights.
Ronald Acuña Jr. Addressed the Media Ahead of First Rehab Outing
Ahead of his first rehab outing with the Stripers on Thursday, Acuña Jr. addressed the media and answered some questions surrounding his recovery updates and a possible timeline for his return to the big leagues. One of the media personnel asked Ronald how excited he was to get back on the field for his rehab assignment.
Acuña Jr., via his interpreter, responded, “I’m super excited to be back, and obviously I’m just piqued with anxiety, just trying to rush back and to be able to play with the guys and rejoin the team, and, you know, just like you said, I’m itching to get back on the field.”
He further added, “I feel 100% because it’s been such a long process that we’ve been working on it for over the past year. So, we [Braves] have stuck with the plan that we made initially, and I feel like we’ve executed it well. So, I feel really good.”
The Braves are currently 22-22 for the season with a .500 winning percentage, acquiring the third spot in the NL East standings, six games behind the division leaders, the New York Mets. They will now be heading to Boston to kick off a three-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, starting Friday.