Atlanta Braves: Is Ronald Acuna really showing he deserves a promotion?
The Atlanta Braves received plenty of scrutiny for not opening the season with top prospect Ronald Acuna in the major leagues, but has he really shown so far that he deserves to be in Atlanta?
Throughout the winter and spring, few names got as much hype as Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna. Sure there was some guy attempting to hit and pitch both, but Acuna started a national debate about whether the players union should be filing a grievance against the Atlanta Braves due to how well he played in the spring before being sent down.
Most assumed that Acuna would spend a couple weeks in the minors and be up in the major leagues as soon as Friday with the Atlanta Braves. This was the timeline akin to Kris Bryant with the Chicago Cubs in 2015.
Of course Bryant hit .321/.364/.679 over his 7 games in Iowa that season, hitting 3 home runs and driving in 10 runs while even stealing two bases. Needless to say, Acuna hasn’t done that.
Tuesday marked the first time Acuna tallied a hit on the season. Wednesday, he added an 0-4 performance with 3 strikeouts, which brought his season total to 6 games, 19 at bats, 2 hits, one double, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts for a .105/.190/.158.
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Outside of Bryant, not all previous National League Rookie of the Year award winners all performed very well before being called up for their award-winning season:
- 2012 Bryce Harper with AAA Syracuse: 21 games, .243/.325/.365, 1 HR, 1 SB, 9/14 BB/K
- 2014 Jacob deGrom with AAA Las Vegas: 7 starts, 38 1/3 IP, 2.58 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 10/29 BB/K
- 2017 Cody Bellinger with AAA Oklahoma City (before he was called up): 18 games, .343/.429/.627, 4 doubles, 5 home runs, 9/22 BB/K
So, is Acuna on par with Harper? Otherwise, it is a bit concerning as the other past NL ROY winners since Harper have excelled in their minor league time, if they had any before their major league debut.
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Obviously, this does not mean that Acuna won’t ever be successful or that he’ll immediately struggle if the Atlanta Braves do bring him to the major league club, but it’s certainly not helping his argument!