Friday night time, the Atlanta Braves, their followers, and all of Main League Baseball had been reminded why Ronald Acuña, Jr. is on the short-list of the sport’s finest gamers.
On the primary pitch he noticed in virtually one calendar 12 months, he blasted the ball 467 ft vociferating his return with type and ironic symbolism as that may be the one run the Braves mustered towards the San Diego Padres that night time.
The Braves dropped all however one recreation this previous week – a Saturday night time outburst that confirmed what they might be – however the remaining 4 video games confirmed who they’ve been and – no less than for now – who they’re … a beneath .500 workforce.
For many of 2025, the beginning pitching has been the workforce’s suspenders, holding up the drooping pantaloons of the offense. However outdoors of wonderful begins by the rapturous Chris Sale and luscious locks of Grant Holmes, the workforce’s pitching struggled with Dylan Lee, Raisel Iglesias, AJ Smith-Shawver and Spencer Strider all having week’s they’d quite transfer to their trash icon and completely delete.
It wasn’t simply the pitchers that want to burned this week to the bottom. Eli White would seemingly do a tough reset, as nicely.
There have been some positives as Matt Olson hit three house runs; Ozzie Albies is carrying a hitting streak that included his first multi-extra-base hit recreation of the season on Sunday; Marcell Ozuna continues to be being productive; and Drake Baldwin continues to make folks fawn for his procurement of an outfielder’s glove within the hopes that his bat would carry his seemingly defensive ineptitude in left area.
Even within the throngs of one other week of unthinkable selections and disastrous outcomes, there was La Bestia.
Photograph by Wealthy von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Photos
Battery Energy Braves Participant of the Week: Ronald Acuña, Jr.
How does one describe this weekend’s return of Atlanta’s finest participant? Go forward, knock your self out within the feedback, as a result of all the adjectives and adulation don’t appear to fairly do it justice.
By the point the Braves dropped the ultimate recreation of the Padres collection – and thank goodness the 2 groups don’t match-up once more throughout the common season – the person with the aptitude for the dramatic ended his first three video games going 4-for-12 with two house runs, a double, three RBI, two runs scored, an outfield help and virtually a second whereas trying no-worse-for-the-wear within the outfield.
The perfect information of all is that he felt adequate to play in all three video games of the collection, one thing that was in query coming into the weekend.
Sure, he did strike out six instances, however in any other case he regarded like a vivacious facsimile of the 2023 model of himself – which was a historic and MVP season for the now 27-year-old famous person.
Alas, Acuña, Jr.’s excellence wasn’t sufficient to hold Atlanta to a collection victory as they had been undone by poor selections on the sphere and within the dugout, however for a second, all was proper on the earth.
Welcome again.
