When should the Braves call up Ronald Acuna?

The day many thought Ronald Acuna would get called up has come and gone. Now the question on everyone’s mind is when will the Braves call him up?

This past Monday was supposed to be the celebration of the arrival of one of the best prospects baseball has seen the past few years, Ronald Acuna. Someone forgot to give the Atlanta Braves that memo because they still have the young superstar in the making toiling away in the minors. Considering the fact that the Braves are a bit of a surprise early in the season(9-7), it stood to reason Acuna would be up to help the cause very early. Since that hasn’t happened we’re left with one burning question – when should the Braves call him up?

The easy answer is they should have done it Monday. They gained the extra year of contractual control over the player and that was the only real reason to keep him down in the minors. Fans may remember the Chicago Cubs doing the exact same thing with star third baseman Kris Bryant a few years ago. Everyone knew Bryant should have made the big league club. He didn’t because of a dumb rule in the collective bargaining agreement. L

et’s give the Braves the benefit of the doubt as to why it wasn’t Monday. After all, Acuna was off to a slow start. the AAA team was encountering the same weather issues that have plagued the season so far. Acuna was playing very little baseball and was only hitting .152(5 for 33) with 12 strikeouts. Manager Bryan Snitker had his own theories on why Acuna was struggling –

"“I think the biggest thing with him is he’s just trying too hard,” Snitker said. “He’s pressing. He’ll be fine. We had these guys ready to play and then they were down for nine days. Then they get bad weather and had games cancelled. They haven’t had any routine at all.”"

While this is all well and good, perhaps Acuna is pressing because he knows he should be in the majors. He knows how good he is. He’s trying to hit the ball harder or do things outside of his game to earn his spot. That’s typically going to backfire at the plate. When players try harder, the results tend to get worse. Look at the smooth and easy swing when things are going right.

Acuna has played all over the outfield through his minor league career. He would likely be fine in any of the three spots, so who does he replace? Statistically speaking, Ender Inciarte would be the easiest to replace. He’s hitting .215 with a .514 OPS through 65 at-bats so far this year. It’s hard to believe that Acuna couldn’t at least do that, if not much more.

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Ronald Acuna is sure to be an Atlanta Brave sooner than later. However, the lesson here is a 33 at-bat sample size should not be what sways Atlanta as far as a call-up. Acuna has pretty much destroyed every level of minor league baseball he’s played at. It’s all come despite his youth at every stop. He’s got nothing left to prove and needs to be in Atlanta as soon as possible. The only thing he has left to learn is the majors.