The anointing of the new Atlanta Braves savior, Ronald Acuna.
Atlanta Braves fans, we have been here before. All eyes on spring training, craving for updates on the next phenom while dreaming of him leading us back to the promised land. Our savior is coming! Our savior is coming! We also pontificate on how our savior will shape the Braves into his own image. Then reality hits. Many seasons from now we might be saying “IF our savior has the breakout season that was promised, WE can make a run for the division!”
I remember scouring the Baseball America in 1995 and 1996, devouring news of Andruw Jones, while I dreamed of my savior raising multiple World Series banners. I remember the arrival at 19. The home runs against the Yankees in the World Series. I remember the complete teardown of the 1996 roster likely due to my savior’s coming. (I never understood the trade of Justice and Grissom for Lofton and Jermaine Dye for Michael Tucker back then.) I remember wondering what IF Jones makes adjustments? I remember resigning myself that Jones would never be the hitter that his minor league numbers promised me he would be. I remember the power, the defense, the speed. “But he is hitting only .250!” I remember abandoning my savior for other new saviors. Younger saviors.
I remember seeing Jeff Francouer on the cover of Sports Illustrated. They called him “The Natural.” I called him my savior. He was going to be the bridge between the dominant division title teams led by their first savior Chipper Jones. I remember his arrival. He hit .300 with 14 HR in 70 games. Sports Illustrated was right! I remember the 29 HR next year, the cannon in RF, the inability to hit the ball the opposite way, and finally, the inconsistency. By age 25, Francouer was a Met, and our savior was gone.
I remember Jason Heyward. By then, there was the internet, and I could follow my savior’s every minor league at-bat. I remember being disappointed when he did not get a call-up in 2009. I remember his first big league game. BAM! Did my savior just take Carlos Zambrano deep!! I remember a 20-year-old man-child drawing 91 walks in his rookie season. I remember writing about a Heyward-Stanton rivalry. Heyward is Batman, and his BFF Freddie Freeman is Robin, and the Dynamic Duo would do what Frenchy and McCann couldn’t do. I remember the struggles, the move to the leadoff spot, the lack of walks, the diminishing power. I remember saying, “Freeman has made tremendous strides, the pitching is coming along, IF IF IF IF Heyward puts it all together, we will dominate!” By age 25, our savior was in St. Louis. I remember telling myself that I would never anoint another savior.
And so that brings me to my newest savior. He played at three levels and saw his OPS, BB rate, and K rate improve. He stole 44 bases and hit 21 HR. He is only 19! I remember flying to Arizona to cover him. I remember he got the flu and didn’t play in any of the games I went to. I remember as I flew home, he played that night on MLB Network and hit 2 HR! I remember he was even better in the Arizona Fall League. I remember his manager Luis Salazar telling me that he is the best prospect in the league and it isn’t even close. I remember that Victor Robles was also in this league.
I remember my new savior taking Tanaka deep, wearing his hat crooked, and going 7 for his last 10. And now I am in the present. Despite all the hyperbole and distant memories of Braves phenoms past, this prospect deserves every ounce of praise heaped on him. I’m not saying the others did not. But Ronald Acuna does. And because he is receiving it, it is easy to expect the next Mike Trout. Acuna has all the tools to be Trout and better. However, it is not fair to him for my to place those expectations on him. He is not Trout. He is not Jason Heyward. He is not Jeff Francouer, and he is not Andruw Jones. He is Ronald Acuna, and I want him to be Ronald Acuna.
Maybe I am the only one. The single Braves fan that has been disappointed by prospects past and I’m afraid to fully embrace the Acuna hype train. Maybe I am protecting myself from let down. Perhaps you can relate. Or maybe I’m crazy, and this hyperbolic bulljive has wasted your time. Either way, I am making it a point to give Ronald Acuna a chance to be young. To be inconsistent and to struggle. To grow and to develop.
But if he struggles and is no longer a Brave by the time he is 25, then I hope I don’t resent him. I am rooting hard for him to be a Brave for the next 15-16 seasons……..with 16 straight World Series championships!