Ronald Acuña Jr.’s social media activity is a vicious shot at Phillies

Ronald Acuña Jr. may star for the Atlanta Braves, but he is public enemy No. 1 in the National League East, right above guys like Bryce Harper and Pete Alonso. Although Atlanta came up short in consecutive NLDS to rival Philadelphia, Acuña will win NL MVP going away with his historic 40/70 campaign. He may have gotten hurt mid-season in 2021, but his team rallied to win the World Series.

As the 2023 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers commences on Friday night, Acuña liked a tweet citing the Phillies' big accomplishments of the last two years. They have won back-to-back NLDS series over Atlanta, as well as getting to the Fall Classic last season by beating the San Diego Padres in the NLCS. You do not hang banners for winning NLDS...

Admittedly, this is a little bit of empty-calorie nonsense. The Braves had the best team in baseball this year and totally blew it for the second consecutive postseason vs. the Philadelphia Phillies. While Philadelphia will still revel in beating the Braves, they have not won a division title in over a decade and have not won a World Series since a young Evan Longoria starred for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008.

With Acuña being despised by Mets, Marlins, Nationals and Phillies fans, I have no problem with this.

However, all the pressure is on him to prove he is not a Clayton Kershaw choke artist in the postseason. Kershaw has a World Series ring as well, but the Los Angeles Dodgers won in 2020...

Ronald Acuña Jr. likes tweet marginalizing Philadelphia Phillies accolades

Look. This is good for baseball. I want Acuña to hate the Phillies as much as Harper hates the Braves. In a day and age where everybody is all buddy-buddy with the opposition, a little animosity can go a long way. You want players to care about these games. There may be 162 of them during the regular season, but for one fleeting moment, you want to believe they are playing for the love of the game.

Frankly, I think MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is kind of hoping either Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles or somebody other than Arizona won the NL pennant this year. While Houston Astros fatigue is a real thing in the AL, the Rangers also do not move the needle nationally like the Braves, Dodgers, Phillies or their in-state rival do. This could be a World Series for the ages, but the numbers will suffer.

Truth be told, it is going to be next to impossible for Acuña to build off his historic regular season. He played his tail off and gave the Braves everything he got. Unfortunately, the Braves somehow ran out of gas in October. You and I have to wonder if the 2021 team was the outlier, as this has been more of the same Braves playoff baseball I have grown accustomed to over the last 20 postseasons or so...

Philadelphia may be a sexy pick to win the NL East next season, but they have to beat the Braves first.