Braves-Padres injury report: Ronald Acuña Jr. returns, Yu Darvish on the cusp of return

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The Atlanta Braves open a three-game series against the San Diego Padres on Friday, marking the fourth of 15 regular season games broadcast on Gray Media in 2025.

The Braves recently got right-hander Spencer Strider back in the starting rotation after a strained hamstring forced a short stint on the injured list, and now they will have star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., who s a Braves team on Friday that has been hovering around .500 as of late after starting the regular season an abysmal 0-7.

At this point, Acuña is the last piece of the puzzle. Upon his arrival, the team needs just right-hander Reynaldo López (shoulder) and outfielder Jurickson Profar (PED suspension) before it dons a healthy and clean 26-man roster.

As for San Diego, right-hander Yu Darvish was supposed to make the trip to Toronto for a three-game series against the Blue Jays that started Tuesday, but was supposedly not ready to pitch just yet. He pitched four innings in his lone rehab start with Triple-A El Paso on May 14, hitting 97 mph with his fastball, but the team is taking it slow, similar to how Atlanta handled Acuña.

There’s reason to believe that Darvish could the Padres in Atlanta, but it’s no guarantee that he’ll make any appearance of sort.

Here’s the full injury report:

Braves injury report

• Nacho Alvarez Jr. (left wrist inflammation) - expected return is sometime in May
• Joe Jimenez (left knee surgery) - will not return before August, could miss entirety of 2025
• Reynaldo López (right shoulder inflammation) - expected return is TBD

Padres injury report

Here is the current Padres injury report:

• RHP Yu Darvish (right elbow inflammation) - expected return is late May
• RHP Logan Gillaspie (left oblique strain) - expected to return in June or July
• RHP Bryan Hoeing (right shoulder soreness) - expected to return in June
• RHP Joe Musgrove (Tommy John surgery) - out until 2026
• RHP Matt Waldron (left oblique strain) - expected to return in June or July

First pitch is at 7:15 p.m. EST on Friday.

How to watch Braves on Gray

Gray Media will simulcast these 15 Atlanta Braves games throughout the Southeast this season.

Fans can watch the Braves on Gray by tuning into PeachtreeTV, Atlanta’s CW Network. Fans can also watch games on YouTube TV, over the air on channel 17.1 and on channel 17 on Dish Network and DirecTV and channel 7 on Xfinity and Spectrum.

If you are in another market outside of Atlanta, you can find your channel at BravesOnGray.com.