Ronald Acuña Jr. emotional after elimination, says he hopes to spend career with Braves

Ronald Acuña Jr. sat at his corner locker hunched forward with his shirt pulled over his head. He didn’t even flinch for a few minutes.

Acuña has always been a great showman, but his moment of solitude said more than he could ever intentionally express.

Minutes earlier, Acuña battled tears while assessing his and his team’s postseason failure with reporters. The Braves were eliminated with their 4-1 loss Wednesday to the Dodgers, seeing a promising season fizzle out with the offense producing just two runs across 18 innings at Truist Park.

Acuña was among several stars who underperformed to a disturbing level. He took responsibility for his performance, even noting he understood fans booing. The former MVP outfielder went 2-for-15 with four strikeouts in the four-game series. He went 3-for-24 with six strikeouts over seven postseason games. He was also dealing with a knee injury.

“I didn’t do anything special to help my team win, so I’m frustrated,” Acuña told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shortly after he emerged from his malaise.

Acuña has still shown brilliance in spurts, but he hasn’t consistently resembled the player who once was challenging Shohei Ohtani as the game’s best talent. The creator of the 40-70 club, Acuña has slashed .267/.374/.457 in the three seasons since his historic run. He has 45 homers over 251 games in that span; he had 41 homers in 159 games in 2023.

This was Acuña’s first postseason appearance since 2023. He was eager to be back in the playoff mix. He was overjoyed when the Braves outlasted the Phillies in the Wild Card Series, knowing he’d have the opportunity to help send the two-time reigning champions home.

Instead, he was among the most-criticized players of the past week (nevertheless, “I love the fans, I love Braves Country,” he stressed to the AJC).

Matt Olson, Drake Baldwin and Austin Riley were also unproductive, so Acuña shouldn’t be singled out. But for a man who was once the Braves’ great spark – the player whom the team resisted relocating from leadoff because he was so energetic – this was a major disappointment, particularly because Acuña didn’t convert numerous chances with runners on base that could’ve flipped the series.

There will be outside discussion this offseason about the Braves altering their mix. There will be internal discussion of it, too. Speculation has already turned to Acuña, who has club options for $17 million, respectively, in 2027 and 2028; a bargain for a player with his talent, but also a reality that buoys his trade value despite recent underperformance.

It’d be taboo to suggest the Braves explore trading one of their franchise-headlining players in the past. But as the team explores options to reshape its group and perhaps add more young, controllable talent to its core, cashing out on Acuña is an option.

Acuña expressed to the AJC that his past comments – that he wants to remain a Brave for his entire career – remain true, though he scrubbed his Instagram of Braves content following the game.

“I want to stay here my whole career, that hasn’t changed,” he said. “But I can’t control that. It’s hard when you don’t help your team. It’s tough.”

Perhaps the speculation never becomes substance. But the Braves will need more from Acuña and their other headline stars if they’re to topple a team like the Dodgers. They felt they had a group capable of doing so this year, so perhaps they opt for more tweaks.