Atlanta Braves Worst Defensive Players of 2023: Ronald Acuna Jr.
Yep. I'm doing it.
First of all, I know a list of four players is odd. I was going to do five but it is getting late and I'm tired. My girlfriend wants to watch Return to Amish and I'm like really into Amish culture... anyway. You only get four.
Obviously, I have saved Ronald Acuna Jr. for the main event. Now, I have covered this in depth already earlier this season at Talkin' Tomahawk. Read: Is Ronald Acuna Jr. Bad at Defense?
If you want to check that one out, I provide embedded videos and explain why his OAA gets dinged. I can't really embed those videos here, so check that out.
Anyway, on to the details. Does it feel like Acuna Jr. doesn't get to balls like Eddie Rosario? I get mixed reactions on that one. The stats say he just doesn't get to a lot of balls that other outfielders get to. Acuna doesn't make catches on high probability catches.
In the article above, you can see Acuna missing balls that most major-league outfielders would get to. Is it because he's slow? I don't even need to look up the stats to tell you that. You know he's not slow. I have a theory, I'll get to it soon.
Click next to see some of Acuna's stats and why they may not be that big of a deal!