He’s a superstar for a reason, folks.
The Atlanta Braves showed much-needed improvement this week by winning four-out-of-six games after a win less week last week. There’s a tinge of disappointment to that outcome given that the Braves dropped the final game of the series against a Colorado Rockies team that is historically inept.
The worst team in baseball looked the part allowing the Braves to strike out 19 of their batters on Saturday and then striking out 16 times against Atlanta pitching on Sunday. That set the two-game record for most strikeouts by Braves pitchers breaking the record they set last season against those same Rockies.
Yes, it was the Rockies, but Spencer Strider had his best start of the season striking out 13 and Grant Holmes followed Strider’s outing by striking out a career-high 15 in the loss on Sunday.
Earlier in the week, Chris Sale – who was bumped back from his scheduled start on Sunday so he could make a start against the New York Mets – struck out 11 in his start against the Milwaukee Brewers. Spencer Schwellenbach fanned nine in a complete game effort on Wednesday to secure the series victory against the Brewers.
In the bullpen, Dylan Lee has been highly effective and it will be curious if he will be leveraged for a save situation, should it arise next week.
Offensively, Matt Olson had a nice week and Austin Riley had one, too, although Riley continues to strikeout quite a bit. The offense is still a problem but that isn’t because of the production of the team’s best player.
That’s because no one had a week like Ronald Acuña, Jr. had.
Battery Power Braves Player of the Week: Ronald Acuña, Jr.
In six games this week, Atlanta’s superstar outfielder went 13-for-21 with three home runs, six RBI and eight runs scored. He walked five times and struck out only once.
Oh, and Acuña, Jr. also stole his first base of the season.
For the season, he is batting .390 with a .478 on-base percentage and .701 slugging percentage good for a 225 wRC+ in the 90 plate appearances he has taken since joining the Braves on May 23.
He came into Sunday’s contest having accrued 1.6 fWAR which was tied for fourth on the team. For position players, her was tied for second. That is coming with the rest of the team having nearly a two month head start on him.
Everything about Acuña, Jr. is different when he is healthy. The stats speak for themselves but he’s also showed of his plus arm that is one of the best in the game (Baseball Savant has him at 100 for arm strength) and the sound of the ball off his bat is different than all but a handful of players in the sport.
With one month to go until the All-Star Game in Atlanta, if he continues to play at a level in the same area code as he has since making his season debut less than a month ago, Acuña, Jr., is sure to be on the National League squad, one way or another.
The Braves still have a long way to go to get back to playoff contention – or even to .500 – but Ronald Acuña, Jr. continues to remind everyone why every day is Father’s Day around MLB when he’s playing like he did last week.