Any lingering thought out there that the Braves needed to bring Ronald Acuna to Atlanta with them from Day 1 certainly now has been quashed.
Now, dare we even consider the proposition that there is no real need to rush him to the front at the end of this week?
Saturday in Chicago is the first opportunity for the Braves to bring up their jeweled prospect and maintain that coveted extra year of contractual control. Everyone knew that was the real reason he was sent to Gwinnett to be a Striper, even after he put together a major league roster-worthy spring. The Braves nonetheless declared that it was – wink, wink – “for developmental reasons.” Oh, how we chortled.
Perhaps we should retract at least one of those winks now.
Acuna started slowly in Triple-A, hitless in his first three games before breaking out Tuesday with a double and single at Durham. There was the reminder – a needed one – that no matter how much we may wish him to be as finished as Michelangelo’s David, Acuna is still a 20-year-old work in progress. Still the youngest player in the International League. Still a lot of rough corners on all that potential in need of power-sanding.
Meanwhile, left field has been among the least of the Braves’ concerns. Preston Tucker, who attracted a hundredth of the notice of Acuna this spring, has been more than sufficient. Entering Wednesday, he has hit .303 with a pair of home runs and nine RBIs. Could you really make the argument that Acuna would have made more of an impact than that?
The early games the Braves won – in which they were briefly baseball’s most prolific offense – had no need of Acuna.
And impossible to imagine that the games they lost to Washington to begin this week – a complete-game shutout by the Nats’ Max Scherzer and a dominant eight-inning performance by Stephen Strasburg – could have been turned around by the presence of one 20-year-old seeing those two for the first time. All the kid did was avoid a paper cut to his competitive ego.
At any moment, Acuna is going to catch fire. Whether this week, next week, or the week after that. He has done it, suddenly, at every level. He’ll do it at Triple-A. Guaranteed.
There is no call to promote him until he is going well at Gwinnett (and that could be at week’s end). First, get it right at this lesser level. Give him a running start into his major league career.
If that means Acuna doesn’t get brought up on the first possible moment, so what? If that means he must wear a Striper cap a few days longer than absolutely necessary – giving the fans there a little longer glimpse (home opener Thursday) – what’s the harm? If that means the Braves wait to promote him until they return home next week - or the next homestand afterward - that might even be considered shrewd.
If we have learned nothing else from the start of this season, it’s that the Braves really can afford to be patient with Acuna. What’s the hurry? He’ll let everyone know when the time is right.
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