Is Acuña’s Speed Being Squandered? Former All-Star’s Controversial Stance on Braves Star Stealing Fewer Bases Sparks Outrage and Raises Tactical Questions!”
As Atlanta Braves superstar right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. works his way back from a second ACL surgery, a major point of discussion is his decision to steal fewer stolen bases. He is switching up his game to maintain his health.
While it was fun to see Acuña pull off a 40-70 season en route to an MVP, two-time All-Star and host of Foul Territory Todd Frazier fully supports the decision.
“I think this is the right thing, for sure,” Frazier said. “The Atlanta Braves want him to play. They want him to play a full season. They want, you know, 145 to 150-plus game during the season for him at a healthy pace.
Even with that aspect of his game being deprioritized, Frazier has little doubt, if there even is any doubt, that Acuña will continue to be keystone force in the Braves’ lineup. The speed doesn’t even had to go away entirely. It’s just used differently.
“He doens’t need to steal. He’s fast enough to score from first to home. He’s the best player on that squad, and he’s the guy who’s going to take them to the promise land if they get that opportunity to do so,” Frazier said.
Apart from his MVP season in 2023, the Braves have been without Acuña because he’s hurt for multiple seasons or he has been less effective because he’s still getting back in shape following his return.
He has had surgery in both knees now. The Braves have completely changed how they approach his recovery for that reason. In turn, it’s logical that Acuña would make adjustments for when he is playing too.
The number of steals we will become accustomed to seeing from here on out is to be determined. It could be possible he just ditches stealing bases entirely.
While not for the same reasons, since he was still healthy at the time, there’s an example of an MVP-caliber player ditching stolen bases and still being a top player in the game. He was actually still seen as the top player in the world. This is none other than a peer of Frazier’s, Mike Trout.
In his AL Rookie of the Year-winning season, Trout hit 30 home runs and stole 49 bases. However, he only stole 30 bases in one of his three MVP-winning seasons. In his other two, he stole fewer than 20.
As long as the bat is there, Acuña will resume being one of the top players in the game.
Fangraphs currently projects that Acuña will slash .293/.380/.512 with 27 home runs and 76 RBIs over 132 games. They still projected 46 stolen bases. Not so sure about that. However, everything else is still realistic and would be fantastic coming off a knee injury.
