With Tucker producing Braves can wait for Acuna to get going

CHICAGO —

Braves manager Brian Snitker has seen enough of Ronald Acuna, in instructional league and two spring trainings, to know how special the kid is.

Like other team officials, Snitker wasn’t at all concerned by Acuna’s 3-for-25 start to the season at Triple-A Gwinnett before Friday, including 10 strikeouts and two walks.

But the Braves also felt no urgency to bring him to the major leagues, particularly with the Braves getting solid production from temporary left fielder Preston Tucker, who hit another three-run homer Friday against the Cubs to give him three homers and a team-high 12 RBIs.

Snitker gets reports every day from Triple-A manager Damon Berryhill, who said to reporters about Acuna: “I think he’s pressing a little bit. Chasing out of the zone, which is unusual for him. But I’m not overly concerned. It’s been a slow start for basically this whole league. The first week we played was brutal weather everywhere.”

Acuna, the consensus No. prospect in baseball, had played only seven games in 2-1/2 weeks – including the Braves vs. Future Stars game Feb. 27 -- because of a gap this year between the end of spring training and start of the Triple-A season April 6. Gwinnett opened on the road in in chilly and sometimes wet conditions and had one game rained out.

Braves infielder Johan Camargo, who’s with Gwinnett on an injury-rehab assignment, also started slowly, but had hit homers in each of his past two games before Friday. He was 3-for-20 with two walks and eight strikeouts in five rehab games, with no firm timetable yet for coming off the disabled list.

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