United States.– Major League Baseball announced this Friday that Matt Olson will replace his Braves teammate Ronald Acuña Jr., in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby 2025. The event will take place this Monday at 8 p.m. ET at Truist Park in Atlanta and will be broadcast by ESPN, according to Brent Maguire, of MLB.com.
Since joining the Braves in 2022, Olson has hit 134 home runs, the fifth highest total in Major League Baseball during that period. At 31 years old, he has accumulated this season an offensive line of .267/.368/.481, with 17 home runs in 92 games.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Olson will live a special experience by participating in the Derby in front of his hometown crowd. This will be his second appearance in the event, after competing in the 2021 edition at Coors Field. In that occasion, he hit 23 home runs in the first round, but was eliminated by a home run against Trey Mancini.
ACUÑA JR. STATUS AND REASONS FOR WITHDRAWAL:
Ronald Acuña Jr. was the first player confirmed for the Derby on June 25. Despite debuting in the season on May 23 after recovering from a left knee injury that kept him out in 2024, Acuña showed a great performance with an offensive line of .324/.441/.581, 11 home runs, and 2.1 WAR (FanGraphs) in 42 games. He was also selected to start the National League All-Star Game, adding his fifth mid-season Classic appearance.
On Tuesday, Acuña was scratched from the game against the Athletics due to back pain. Although he returned to the lineup on Wednesday and is expected to play his third consecutive game this Friday, it is unclear if this discomfort was the determining factor for his withdrawal from the Derby. The journalist Mark Bowman, of MLB.com, commented that “if this becomes a persistent problem, Acuña probably won’t be available to participate” in the Derby or the All-Star Game next Tuesday.
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