Ronald Acuña Jr. might not be able to clone himself, but the Atlanta Braves could certainly use more Las Bestias all over the diamond. Since coming back from the injured list about a month ago, Acuña is hitting .369 with nine home runs and 18 runs batted in over the course of just 31 games. He is playing every day in right field since returning to the Braves. He is already eclipsing his totals from a year ago.
On the year, the Braves are 37-43 and in third place in the NL East. While they did take the first two in their road series at the New York Mets, they dropped the latter pair to split the series. Fresh off a lengthy road trip, the Braves will host another NL East rival in the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night. Philadelphia has played considerably better baseball this season, as illustrated by their 47-34 record.
With this being the final weekend of June, it is now or never for the Braves to find themselves. If the come up dead at home vs. Philadelphia in one of their final series before the All-Star Game, it would not be shocking to see this team circle the drain and miss the postseason entirely. It should be noted that every year Acuña has played for the Braves, Atlanta has gone on to qualify for the postseason.
Heading into Game 1 of their three-game home series vs. the Phillies, here is what you need to know.
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Ronald Acuña Jr. injury update
Since returning to the team in late May, Acuña has been an ever-present staple in right field and batting lead-off. Playing on natural grass in right field is probably helping his legs out more than you would think. So far, I have not seen anything that would lead me to believe he has lost a step defensively. That being said, he is not stealing as many bases as he once did before the ACL injury.
Ronald Acuña Jr. history vs. Mick Abel
As it turns out, nobody on the Braves has any history when it comes to facing Phillies starting pitcher Mick Abel. This is because he only has five games of MLB experience under his belt. On the year, Abel is 2-1 in five starts with a 3.47 ERA. In 23.1 innings pitched, Abel has accumulated 18 strikeouts. However, he has a propensity of giving up the big fly. Abel has surrendered seven already this season.
Where will Ronald Acuña Jr. be in the Braves lineup?
Assuming manager Brian Snitker decides not to tinker with the lineup too much, Acuña will be batting first and playing right field for the hometown Braves. There may not be a better leadoff hitter in all of baseball. When healthy, he is a total five-tool player as one of the game's greatest talents. Since he is known for hitting home runs, maybe he takes advantage of Abel's inability to keep the ball in the yard?
Overall, the Braves really need to focus and try to take two-of-three from the Phillies at home. After that, they do enter a soft part of their schedule with the Los Angeles Angels and Baltimore Orioles coming to town for a pair of three-game series. Following those two series, Atlanta will finish on the road at the Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals in two three-game series before the All-Star Game.
All signs point to Acuña being able to play at an All-Star level when going up against a rookie pitcher.