Atlanta Braves: Ronald Acuña, Keith Hernandez and the Beanball

Former Mets’ first baseman, Keith Hernandez, made headlines Wednesday as he condoned the intentional beaning of Atlanta Braves phenom, Ronald  Acuña Jr. Were his comments justified or over the line?

Atlanta Braves young phenom, Ronald Acuña Jr., made headlines this week for a number of reasons. The youngster was in the middle of a red-hot stretch for the Bravos, homering in five straight games going into play on Wednesday.

Wednesday marked the end of an eight-game stretch where Acuña had hit seven home runs and slashed .471/.514/1.235. This run came to an end with the highly controversial hit by a pitch from Miami Marlins pitcher, Jose Urena.

Acuña’s plunking raised a popular baseball debate, a debate regarding baseball’s “unwritten rules” and beanball culture. Former Mets first baseman and current SNY Analyst, Keith Hernandez, made headlines Wednesday night with his highly questionable “old school opinion” on the incident.

“They’re killing you. You lost three games. He’s hit three home runs. You got to hit him,” said Hernandez (New York Post),“I’m sorry, people aren’t going to like that. You know, you got to hit him, knock him down. I mean, seriously knock him down if you don’t hit him. You never throw at anybody’s head or neck. You hit him in the back. You hit him in the fanny.”

As Hernandez predicted, his opinion was not very popular. Former Braves star and Hall of Famer, Chipper Jones, responded to Hernandez’s comments on Twitter.

“So by this way of thinking, Jacob deGrom should get drilled cuz he’s the hottest pitcher on the planet? NO! I Enjoy watching him pitch and I enjoy watching RAJ play the game. I’m old school just like this broadcaster, but these comments are waaay off base!”

This contradiction shines a light upon the issue of baseball’s beanball culture. As pitchers continue to throw harder and harder, this way of sending a “message” is beginning to symbolize senseless violence.

The ascension of Ronald Acuña Jr. is great for both the Atlanta Braves and Major League Baseball.  The slugger is talented, young and loves to play the game. Acuña is only 20 years old and he looks primed to have a long and successful career in Major League Baseball. Endangering the health of players has no place in the game as it endangers Major League Baseball as a whole as well.

Jose Urena hit Acuña in the elbow with a 97 mph fastball. While it seemed that the pitch was aimed for the righties back, the fact that Urena’s intent hit Acuña in a fragile area (his elbow) shows that any action to intentionally plunk another player could result in a serious injury.

This might be a pessimistic way to analyze the situation, but it is realistic to say that any player could be one injury away from the end of his career. Intentionally hitting an opposing player unnecessarily adds to this tragic possibility, hence the senseless violence label.

Detriot Tigers Manager, Ron Gardenhire, has been around Major League Baseball since he was drafted in 1979. The old-timer agreed with Chipper Jones as he blasted the Acuña beaning in comments to The Detriot News.

“I hate that stuff,” Gardenhire said. “It’s a nightmare. You could kill somebody. Just to open up (a game) like that? It’s ridiculous. Drill a guy because he’s hit a home run? Try to get him out. I thought it was blatant and ridiculous.”

On the other hand, I still believe that there is a place for pieces of Hernandez’s “old school” philosophy. Before I begin, I want to make it clear that I do not support intentionally throwing at opposing hitters.

Part of Hernandez’s message was that Urena needed to make Acuña uncomfortable at the plate. This can be accomplished without endangering the hitter more than other typical at-bats. Pitchers need to control the strike zone, and they can accomplish this by showing hitters that they are not afraid to pitch on the inside third of the plate.

With that said, Ronald Acuña Jr. did not need to get plunked. Jose Urena could have sent the same message by just pitching him on the inside part of the plate. Urena’s actions were meant to make Acuña uncomfortable while at bat, pounding him inside would have served the same purpose without endangering anyone’s well being.

Urena took the “cowardly” approach to facing the Braves’ red-hot youngster. Urena could have shown that the Marlins were not afraid of Acuña by going right after him. The beanball approach shows that Urena did not trust stuff against the Braves’ phenom.

Acuña left the game Wednesday following the hit by pitch, but returned to the lineup on Thursday in the Atlanta Braves loss to the Colorado Rockies.

In the end, the overall roundup of Ronald Acuña, Keith Hernandez, and the beanball can be summed up in a quote that Atlanta Braves Manager, Brain Snitker, gave to the media following Wednesday’s game.

“That kid didn’t deserve that. There’s just no reason for a young man to be hit like that when all he’s doing is playing the game.”

Jose Urena’s six-game suspension is well deserved, time will tell if Major League Baseball takes any other actions to control baseball’s beanball culture.