To be honest with you, there aren’t many baseball players I like more than Ronald Acuña Jr. since he came to the Majors. Few athletes play with such style and such confidence, and clearly, it pays off in his case, when he is one of the best in his profession.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is perhaps the only one in the same genre.
That said, in recent years, injuries have really bothered the young star of the Braves. A major knee injury in 2021 ended his season and hampered him for much of the following year, as he suffered a 2022 campaign that fell far short of his talent.
However, in 2023, Acuña Jr. is finally back to health. Before the start of the season, I wrote that the Braves were going to need a strong comeback from him, and so far he has responded more than present.
Since the start of the season, he has a batting line of .347/.438/.576 in addition to having stolen 15 bases, a National high.
Oh, and he also hit seven home runs, including that monstrous 470-foot slap off Brayan Bello last night.
But beyond his numbers (which are worthy of a video game), Acuña Jr. also brings an intangible element to his club. He has started to have fun on the field again and he inevitably gives juice to his teammates by the same token.
He may have good offensive support at his side, but the fact remains that the Braves would not have a record of 25-12 (the second best in the Majors, only behind the Rays) and 6.5 games of advance in the East of the National without the presence of their star outfielder.
Because around Acuña Jr., it’s not all rosy in Atlanta right now. Yesterday, the Braves announced that Max Fried will have a long-term absence, he who should miss (at least) two months.
The absence of Fried is added to that of Kyle Wright, who should also miss several weeks. The Braves rotation is therefore short of two excellent starters, which is not ideal.
However, despite everything, the team has no intention of panicking. She has internal options (Michael Soroka could return to the Majors eventually and the remaining guys are doing the work in the meantime), so Alex Anthopoulos has no intention of completing a trade soon.
And even if the offense doesn’t taste it as much (although Acuña Jr. has scared his team twice rather than once this season), the shortstop position is still a question mark.
Orlando Arcia is good so far, but who knows if he’ll be able to maintain his momentum. And if he doesn’t, Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake haven’t been very inspiring, so the options quickly become slim.
That said, despite all those question marks, the wins keep piling up in Atlanta, as the Braves already have a good head start in their division considering the struggles of their rivals.
And seeing the club continue to win despite the red flags is a stark example of the impact a star player like Acuña Jr. can have when he plays up to his abilities.
Acuña Jr. has once again become the MVP the Braves need this season, much to the delight of my prediction from earlier in the season that he would eventually win the honor in 2023.
It’s still early to claim victory, that said, but he is unquestionably the current favorite, to the delight of the Braves.
