(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
The 2023 campaign was extremely productive for Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr.
He was the founding member of the 40-70 club by virtue of finishing with 41 home runs and 73 stolen bases, he hit .337, and he won his first MVP award.
Things haven’t been as quick and easy this year, though.
Pitchers are being much more cautious when facing him, and that was to be expected.
Entering Wednesday, Acuna’s numbers were down across the board.
He was hitting .286/.400/.349 with no home runs, just four doubles, and eight stolen bases.
You can see by that slugging percentage that his power just hasn’t been there.
His OPS was .749, far from the 1.012 mark he had last season.
On Wednesday against the Houston Astros, however, he finally got on the board in the home run department.
“Ronald Acuña Jr.’s first home run of the year gives the @Braves the lead!” MLB tweeted.
Ronald Acuña Jr.’s first home run of the year gives the @Braves the lead! pic.twitter.com/yTb6gMOsmX
— MLB (@MLB) April 17, 2024
Playing at Minute Maid Park against the Houston Astros, he broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fifth inning with a long blast to dead center field.
Acuna is the same hitter he was last year: nothing has changed, so while the exact same numbers are very hard to replicate, the home runs should start coming in bunches soon enough.
Maybe 2023 will go down as a career season for the dynamic outfielder, but he is still capable of hitting over 30 dingers per season and stealing over 40 bases.
He is a special talent, and he did his best to remind fans about that on Wednesday.
The post Ronald Acuna Jr. Finally Ended A Serious Drought appeared first on The Cold Wire.