Despite Braves' rough start, Chipper Jones predicts Ronald Acuna Jr. and 26-year-old All-Star will lead them to postseason 

The Atlanta Braves haven't had a good start to the season, but that may change soon with the club likely receiving reinforcements in the form of former NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. and premier ace Spencer Strider for the weekend series against the San Diego Padres.

Acuna Jr. hasn't played an MLB game since tearing his ACL last May. However, he has played rehab games with Triple-A Gwinnett and could make his debut Sunday.

Strider, 26, is also back in the rotation after an IL stint with a hamstring injury. Strider, who underwent elbow surgery last season, was shaky in his return against the Nats on Tuesday, giving up four runs on six hits in 4.1 innings.

With that in mind, the Braves received a bullish projection from one of their own, Hall of Famer Chipper Jones. Speaking on 680 The Fan on Tuesday, Jones said:

"I think they're going to take off. I really do. I think they're going to take off. He's been the catalyst to that offense ever since he got here. You know, you throw into the mix that Strider’s coming back, and everybody in the East had a chance to bury us. They had that chance to bury us — we were four or five games out.

"And we're not even to Memorial Day yet, so I think they're about ready to go on a pretty good run. But, I mean, given the fact that those two horses stay..."

The Braves are currently 24-24 and are third in the NL East. They are 6.5 games back of the Philadelphia Phillies, who lead the division with a 30-18 record, followed by the Mets, who are 30-20.

Ronald Acuna Jr. mends his relationship with Braves manager

Before even making headlines for his return, Ronald Acuna Jr. drew attention for all the wrong reasons. After seeing Jarred Kelenic trotting slowly around the basepaths thinking it's a home run before catching short of making ground at second, Acuna Jr. indirectly took a dig at Braves manager Brian Snitker, who didn't take Kelenic out of the game.

On April 19, Acuna Jr. posted a message which he later deleted:

"If it were me, they would take me out of the game."

Snitker defended his action, saying he didn't know about Kelenic going lazy on basepaths. Had he been aware, he would have taken a different action. The Braves manager said:

"He didn't run. You've got to run. It's not going to be acceptable here. As a teammate, you're responsible for 24 other guys and that name on the front is a lot more important than that name on the back of that jersey."

However, since then, according to MLB insider Mark Bowman, the star outfielder has apologized to the Braves manager ahead of his potential return.

The Braves have gone 24-17 after going winless in their first seven games. Their game on Wednesday against Washington was postponed due to rain.