While it would be nice to have the storyline around the Atlanta Braves right now center on their first sweep of the season, that is decidedly not the case. Most of the buzz around the team right now currently centers around Ronald Acuna Jr. expressing his displeasure with what could be perceived as a lack of consistency when it comes to Brian Snitker enforcing discipline specifically when it comes to running out of the box.
Everyone agrees that all players should be running hard from contact until they absolutely don't have to. Reaction to Acuna Jr.'s previous mishaps was overblown in the name of clicks and engagement, but he admitted he made mistakes and seemingly learned from him. That said, seeing Jarred Kelenic, a much less valuable players to Atlanta's plans, have his lack of effort glossed over by Snit after the game understandably ticked Acuna Jr. off.
There are no shortage of professed "experts" weighing in on the controversy right now, but it was pretty telling to see MLB insider Ken Rosenthal seeming take Acuna Jr.'s side in the drama.
Ken Rosenthal siding with Ronald Acuna Jr. should have Braves fans thinking
Again, there are some that are taking this whole miscommunication and situation the wrong way. Acuna Jr. was absolutely in the wrong in the past for not hustling out of the box and Snitker should have said something to him. Where things get sticky is enforcing that discipline and blasting Acuna Jr. publicly when it happened versus Snit not even watching the Kelenic play and just assuming he wouldn't do that.
Rosenthal does spend a bit of time hinting that there could be a racial/cultural component to the differences in enforcement. That feels like a bit much as Snitker has gone to bat in very demonstrable ways for basically all of his players including Acuna Jr. as well as others like Marcell Ozuna, but there is certainly a cultural/generational difference between Snitker and the youth movement that got the Braves to this point. Both sides have learned from each other and the team has been better for it.
Unfortunately, it appears as though there are at least some lingering bad feelings and feelings of hypocrisy in Acuna Jr.'s camp. This will likely turn into a non-story as Snit and Acuna Jr. are inevitably going to talk and the Braves will (probably) keep any differences of opinion in-house to work out going forward. However, this situation is a reminder that players notice when managers treat others differently and that can still cause problems years later.