It's no secret that Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. loves playing baseball. It seems like the 2023 MVP can't find himself away from the field, and this offseason, he rejoined Tiburones de La Guaira in Venezuela for his third VPBL season.
Acuña had an excellent 2025 with the Braves with his bat, but was cautious while running the bases coming off his second ACL tear. However, in his first game in Venezuela, hinted that he might be more aggressive in 2026.
Ronald Acuña Jr. looks prime to steal bases in 2026
Ronald Acuña Jr. made his 2025-2026 VPBL season debut on Friday night, going 0-2 with three walks, including intentional walks in the first and third inning. Typically, this would not be newsworthy, especially considering Acuña slashed .380/.529/.747 back in 2023-2024. Tigres de Aragua's manager, Ozzie Guillen, was clearly scared to pitch to the superstar.
On Friday, however, Acuña wasn't content staying on first once he took his base, as he swiped two bags, both coming after intentional walks, and his second coming standing up.
Last season, the 27-year-old only swiped nine bags, a far cry from the 73 he swiped in 2023, but this decline in steals was unsurprising considering his late-May return from a knee injury that cost him an entire year.
Acuña did not even attempt two steals in a single game in 2025, so his aggression in his first game of in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League is notable.
The Braves were one of the least aggressive teams on the base paths in 2025, stealing just 82 bases as an entire team, fifth-fewest in MLB, as well being the fifth-worst team by Baseball Savant's extra bases taken metric.
This performance undoubtably influenced the Braves decision to hire Antoan Richardson as first base coach, who has received rave reviews as a base running savant. Acuña doesn't necessarily need any help reading pitchers, as he currently has an 80% success rate on stolen bases, but the return of his aggressiveness to take extra bases and the coaching of Richardson might leave opponents hopeless in their attempts to keep him at bay next season.