Ronald Acuna struck out in each of his three at-bats in Sunday’s exhibition game against the Yankees, dropping his batting average for the spring to .083.
And that’s not the lowest batting average among the Braves’ starting outfielders, because Marcell Ozuna, who didn’t play Sunday, is hitting .056.
Acuna was 2-for-24 in spring training games through Sunday, with 11 strikeouts. Ozuna was 1-for-18, with nine strikeouts.
No one in the Braves' camp is fretting those numbers, because, well, it's spring training and a small sample size and everyone knows what Acuna has done the past two years and what Ozuna is capable of doing (see his 2017 season). Their spring training statistics are reasonably viewed as a curiosity, rather than a concern.
Braves manager Brian Snitker was asked about the players’ struggles last week. Here’s what he said:
On Acuna: “I really like how he’s going about it. I mean, he’s bouncing around, has been since early in camp, in the drills and all that kind of stuff. He’d probably like to be swinging the bat better than what he is, but I’m not really worried about that.”
On Ozuna: “I could visualize him being one of those guys that you don’t really go by any (spring results). He’ll let you know where he’s at. … As soon as we leave here and have that off day before the season, everybody’s going to forget — and it’s not even going to matter — that we had spring training, other than the health. … Spring will be way in the rear-view mirror.”
Other notes from spring training:
• The Braves will play their second night game at CoolToday Park Monday, facing the Red Sox at 6:05 p.m. By the later innings, the game will be another test for the stadium lights, which didn't adequately illuminate the field at the first night game last week. "It really is dark out there," Freddie Freeman said that night. Sean Newcomb said: "I couldn't see the (catcher's) signs." The Braves later attributed the problem to a "computer glitch" that showed the lights at 100% brightness when in fact they were at 60%. The Braves said the problem was fixed by the next morning. If so, the field should be brighter Monday night.
• Felix Hernandez, vying for a spot in the Braves' rotation, will start Monday's game, his fourth start of the spring.
• Braves expect tough calls on several roster decisions.
