Zack Wheeler's whining about Braves, Ronald Acuña Jr.'s home trot makes absolutely no sense

The rivalry between the Atlanta Braves and Phillies was bound to heat up this month, and for good reason. The Braves have a pretty healthy lead in the NL East, but the two teams were set to play seven of their next 10 games against each other, which was always going to make things pretty tense. However, that doesn't make the complete lack of self-awareness that Phillies starter Zack Wheeler showed after Saturday's game any more excusable.

Wheeler has a long history against the Braves going back to his days with the Mets, so it isn't all that surprising that he is not a fan, and that is okay. However, after the Phillies' win on Saturday, Wheeler was asked about Ronald Acuña Jr.'s home run trot after his bomb against him, and the veteran starter took the opportunity to take a shot at Acuña Jr. in the pettiest (and incorrect) way possible.

Zack Wheeler and the Phillies need to take a hard look in the mirror instead of complaining about the Braves' long-held home run celebration

This is pretty ridiculous. Acuña Jr. hit an absolute tank in a game that had a playoff-like atmosphere. He did the usual bird flap celebration that all Braves players have done all year, as well as his usual stutter-step while approaching third base, which is a tribute to Miguel Cabrera that Acuña Jr. has practiced for literal years. However, Wheeler couldn't help himself and took a shot at Acuña Jr. while making a comparison to Kyle Schwarber, who apparently "just rounds the bases" after his home runs that sounded like an 80-year-old man complaining about when he had to walk 10 miles in the snow to school.

We shouldn't be surprised. This is the same guy whose tantrum after not making the All-Star Game this year and subsequently declining an All-Star invite had real toddler "I didn't get what I wanted when I wanted it, so I am going to sit and pout" energy. All of us should have expected this sort of attitude from a Don Mattingly-led team, because we all know that man does not like Acuña Jr. and has a long history of trying to enforce the old-school "unwritten rules of baseball."

However, does Wheeler REALLY think that Schwarber (or Bryce Harper, for that matter) don't pimp many of their home runs? That is a startling lack of self-awareness at best, and a blatant lie at worst. That isn't a knock against Schwarber or Harper, because acting like a home run matters in a big game and entertaining the crowd while doing it is EXACTLY what players should be doing within reason. Let's just not pretend that the Phillies just punch their time card every day after bringing a steel lunchbox to work and always keep their heads down while working no matter what.

Does Wheeler's comments change the complexion of this series? No, not really. These two teams already hate each other and are both full of veterans that don't need reasons to be motivated right now. However, the Braves are the ones who are just playing their game and having fun doing it, while the Phillies seem to be content to complain about it as they decline from relevancy.

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