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Atlanta Braves: Moving Acuna to leadoff the spark needed?

By Benjamin Chase |
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 22: Atlanta Braves left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) comes out to the on deck circle in the first inning during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals on July 22, 2018, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 22: Atlanta Braves left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) comes out to the on deck circle in the first inning during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals on July 22, 2018, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 22: Atlanta Braves left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) comes out to the on deck circle in the first inning during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals on July 22, 2018, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 22: Atlanta Braves left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) comes out to the on deck circle in the first inning during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals on July 22, 2018, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

After heavy struggles from starting center fielder Ender Inciarte in the leadoff spot, the Atlanta Braves moved rookie phenom Ronald Acuna into the leadoff role over the weekend to tremendous success.

Atlanta Braves fans have been lamenting the presence of Ender Inciarte in the leadoff role all season. Sure, Inciarte plays exceptional defense, so there’s no question he should be out there every day, and his speed is unquestioned, as he’s been among the league leaders in stolen bases all season long. However, a .244 batting average, and more importantly, a .315 on base is just not what you want to see on top of what could be a very productive lineup.

The Atlanta Braves decorate the MLB leaderboard currently, but their offense simply could be much better with a hitter who can get on base at the top of the order. While Inciarte’s BABIP is roughly 40 points below career norms, indicating he’ll come back to more of his career norms in AVG/OBP, doing it at the top of the lineup is probably not the best spot for the team.

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Enter rookie phenom Ronald Acuna. Even in his struggles at times in his rookie season, Acuna has been a sparkplug on the bases and had a slightly higher on base than Inciarte, with a .325 OBP this season.

This weekend, the Braves only played two of their three-game set with the Nationals, but in those two games with Acuna at the top of the order, the offense scored 10 runs, pounding out 26 hits and drawing 5 walks against the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer as starters, so not “easy” competition. Acuna hit well as well, going 6-9 on the weekend with a pair of doubles, a home run, 3 runs scored, an RBI, a walk, and two stolen bases.

Acuna’s minor league track record shows that when he comes up to a new level, he tends to struggle with striking out significantly right away, but then as he gets more comfortable, he begins to work counts and he did just that, seeing 30 pitches between the two games. Ender has been seeing 3.63 pitches per plate appearance, and with Acuna being at 3 over the weekend, Ender’s approach could end up being better suited at the top of the order…or his speed and patience could prove a huge asset hitting in front of the pitcher.

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Whether the Atlanta Braves stick with this new batting order or move Inciarte back to leadoff and Acuna into a run-producing spot once Inciarte starts hitting like his underlying stats say he should is up for question, but the idea of Inciarte’s speed at the bottom of the lineup keying the top of the order would be very tempting, to say the least!

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