Where’s Ronald Acuña? The Atlanta Braves star had been playing in the Venezuelan league over the winter, but recently announced a ‘retirement’ before deleting his Instagram.
Ronald Acuña had been playing in the Venezuelan Winter League to keep fresh for the upcoming MLB season. Acuña is Venezuelan, of course, and had planned on representing his country in the World Baseball Classic, but instead opted to sit out due to an injury.
The Venezuelan Winter League typically offers players a fun, low-stress environment to hone their skills prior to the start of the MLB season. Acuña took his stint there rather seriously, as evidenced by this truly insane home run trot. Seriously, make sure you watch it all the way through.
Ronald Acuña Jr. with one of the most electric home run celebrations of all-time. From start to finish. It just keeps going. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/FcDpeVbzYH
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) January 25, 2023
Acuña, to his credit, gained and kept our attention.
Tiburones were leading the Leones del Caracas in the fifth inning, as seen above, when he pimped the home run trot.
Did Ronald Acuña delete his social media?
On Instagram, Acuña reportedly said he was ‘retired’ from the Venezuelan Winter League after taking his celebration a bit too far. It’s unknown what was behind that decision at this time, but Acuña is apparently done playing this season, and will instead focus on the Atlanta Braves spring training.
Ronald Acuna Jr. announces he's retiring from Venezuelan baseball via Instagram after hitting home run and maybe, just maybe, taking his celebration a little too far... https://t.co/mDju4AVdLe
— World Baseball Network (@WorldBaseball_) January 25, 2023
Acuña also deleted his Instagram after posting the story. It’s an odd series of events after what had been a hilarious home run trot gone viral.
Some in the Venezuelan media thought Acuña took his home run celebration too far.
Es una falta de respeto al béisbol, el show (porque es un show) de Ronald Acuña Jr. después de dar el jonrón.
— Manuel Rodríguez (@mrodoficial) January 25, 2023
Eso está mal. Ese es el ejemplo para los más pequeños?
Acuña tiene mucho talento y no necesita de esto.
Nunca ví a Miguel Cabrera hacer algo parecido.#24Ene #LVBPxTLT
Thus far, the Braves star hasn’t taken to the criticism well. Perhaps it was just the heat of the moment, but it seems unlikely that Acuña will actually ‘retire’ from international baseball given his popularity in Venezuela and elsewhere.
Perhaps this is a learning moment for the 25-year-old.