Ronald Acuña, Jr., regardless of his AAA stats accumulated over the last 7 days, has earned his shot to play for the big boy Braves.
He’s earned it with an amazing run through the 2017 minor league season.
He earned it by hitting .432/.519/.727 in spring training. Now, I’m 100% on the “spring training stats don’t matter” train, but if they are being used in any way to help set the roster — and Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has said they do — then he earned a spot on the Opening Day roster.
He’s earned it because he almost certainly is one of the three best outfielder in the organization right now. Yes, Preston Tucker has had a good start to the season, and that continuing is like the Braves finding money on the sidewalk. If you’ve watched the really good teams the last few years, one thing they almost always have is at least five outfielders that would have nailed down starting jobs on the 2015 Braves had they been around the team then. Contenders have depth. It’s looking like Tucker will be able to supply some, and that’s a great development.
But Preston Tucker isn’t as good at playing baseball as Ronald Acuña, Jr.
By now, most of you reading this know why he wasn’t on the Atlanta Opening Day roster (if you don’t check out this explanation). And for the record, I agree with the organization’s reasoning. The extra year of control for two weeks of games is an obvious decision. There’s a line of reasoning that the team could continue to hold Acuña down until mid-June in order to avoid “Super-Two” status and save the team some money.
No. Just no. No one cares that the move may save the team money in 2021. The team has been running with their first winning record since just before the Epic Collapse of 2014. Turning the dimmer switch on the palpable sense of excitement about this 2018 team is not worth the extra year of being able to pay Acuña major league minimum wage.
By the way, did I mention that he’s already earned the job? This would be a great opportunity for the organization to show that even if they are owned by a soulless absentee corporation, the concept of fairness does have some purchase down at Windy Ridge Parkway.
If you want to get right down to it, he probably made our club as a fence-jumper last year, really.
-Brian Snitker, Manager
On Saturday, Acuña can be added to the 40-man and 25-man roster and still secure that extra year of control. There are reasons not to add him on Saturday, mostly weather related. The Braves will be visiting the Cubs, and the weather forecasts indicate rain, sleet, wind, snow, and maybe White Walkers. There’s a possibility, maybe a likelihood, that one or more games this weekend will be postponed. So it probably doesn’t make sense to fly Acuña to Chicago to maybe hang around a hotel room instead of participating in Gwinnett’s home-opening weekend.
But on Monday, the Braves will take on the Philadelphia Phillies at SunTrust Park, where it seems unlikely to sleet or snow. Reports are that ticket sales have been brisk for the game. That’s not because Braves fans are eager to get a live update on the Phillies rebuild efforts.
On Monday, 4/16/2018, Ronald Acuña, Jr. should make his major league debut and start in left field. He’s earned it fair and square. Fans who have been patient through the three-year rebuild, a front office implosion from MLB rules violations, and a quiet offseason that can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel have earned it. The players and coaches, who even through the recent bad years have largely been giving their best efforts to win, know that Acuña makes the team better and they have earned the organization’s best effort now.
As of the time of this writing, Acuña is batting .120/.185/.160 in six games as a Gwinnett Striper. The easy thing is to say he’s bored, but to my eye he looks like he’s pressing at the plate. It doesn’t matter. His statline in a week’s worth of games doesn’t matter. If he goes hitless all weekend, it doesn’t matter.
Because he has earned his shot. It’s time to start the Ronald Acuña era of Braves history.
Leave a Reply