3. Ronald Acuña Jr.
This may be the biggest surprise of all. Yes, some Braves fans are losing patience with reigning MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. He is the straw that stirs the drink, and the Braves kind of slow last few weeks on offense can partially be attributed to Ronald's semi-slow start to 2024.
2023 was a historic season for Acuna. He became the first player in MLB history to hit 40+ home runs and steal 70+ bases in a single season. Naturally, fans expected an encore in 2024 and the bar may have been set a little too high.
Through his first 37 games this year, Acuna is hitting .252 with 3 home runs and 14 stolen bases. So the positive is that he is stealing bases when he gets on base. Where fans are losing patience is seeing an uncharacteristically lower batting average and extreme lack of power from Acuna.
The most frustrating part of Ronald Acuna's season so far is that he will show flashes of returning to form one at-bat and then strike out on three pitches in his next trip to the plate. 2024 has oddly been inconsistent from Ronald.
Maybe it is because what he feels is a lack of production, but he is not his silly energetic self. Hopefully in the coming weeks, he will start to produce and loosen up more allowing his teammates to feed off of his energy. We have learned by now that the Braves go as Ronald goes.