Ronald Acuña Jr. Denies Dissing Former Manager Brian Snitker on Podcast
The Atlanta Braves star clarified comments made on his podcast "La Bestia," which sparked speculation about his relationship with the former manager.
Ronald Acuña Jr. has refuted claims that his recent podcast comments were an attack on former Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker. The outfielder addressed the controversy surrounding an episode of his podcast, "La Bestia," which aired this week.
During the podcast episode, which featured Milwaukee Brewers players William Contreras and Jackson Chourio, Acuña responded to a question about the Braves' coaching staff. His remark, translated as "All good bro. They didn’t bother me again. You know that c–ksucker thought he was the king," led to widespread speculation that he was criticizing Snitker.
However, after the Braves' elimination from the NLDS, Acuña told The Athletic that his comments were not directed at Snitker and were instead a discussion about past experiences, potentially dating back to his minor league days. "I’m not going to violate that code," Acuña stated via an interpreter. "We were just talking about the past, even things all the way back to the minor leagues."
Philip Feliz, a translator who shared the clip on X, defended his translation, suggesting the Braves organization had contacted him. Feliz maintained the accuracy of his translation and pointed out that Acuña himself released the podcast episode. He further stated that he was rooting for the Braves in their postseason series.
Acuña and Snitker, who managed the Braves from 2017 to 2025, had a notable history together, including winning the 2021 World Series. The two reportedly had moments of friction. One instance cited was in August 2019 when Snitker removed Acuña from a game for not running hard out of the batter's box. Acuña later expressed frustration on X, stating, "If it were me, they would take me out of the game," before apologizing to Snitker and his teammates. Following the 2025 season, Snitker moved into a senior advisory role, and Walt Weiss took over as manager.
Acuña concluded his postseason with a .125 batting average, zero home runs, and zero RBIs across seven games. His regular season performance included a .255 average with 20 home runs and 55 RBIs in 107 games. He has not hit a postseason home run since the 2020 NLDS and missed the 2021 World Series due to a torn ACL.