Question 3: what about Ronald?
3) What are the health reports on Ronald Acuna Jr. and what do you expect from him this season?
Acuna is chomping at the bit to play. If it were up to him, he says, he’d start on Opening Day.
However, he also acknowledges that it’s not up to him: the Braves training staff wants to make absolutely sure that he’s beyond 100% ready to go with no chance of reinjuring his repaired ACL.
That’s a product of his gameplay: speed bursts, cutting bases, stealing bases, and having to make outfield adjustments (which is exactly what caused the injury last June as he got out of sync while chasing down a fly ball in Miami).
Early indications were that Acuna might be held back until May. While that remains a possibility, recent comments from Brian Snitker suggest that he might use Acuna as the Braves’ DH until he’s ready to start in centerfield… and since Atlanta didn’t get a true centerfielder, that’s ultimately going to be his position this year.
I personally have some concerns from afar that base-running could cause some issues for him if he’s back too soon — particularly with things like running out an infield grounder or a sudden direction change to dive back into first base ahead of a pickoff attempt.
If he stays healthy, then we could be talking about the unleashing of a beast. With a May start, I could envision at least 30 homers and 80+ runs scored. But opening day? 40-45 homers and 100 runs (hopefully the Braves limit his steal attempts for health reasons).
The only real question I have is whether he can maintain the kind of batting average (.280-285 or better) that he’s done in the past, given the time off. But there’s zero question about his power.