Braves GM Anthopoulos explains why Acuna is still in minors

In the eyes of many, Ronald Acuna is the best player in Triple-A. Now he has to prove it.

At least, that’s what Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos would like to see before promoting him to the big-league club.

Acuna has slashed .182/.294/.273 in 11 games with Gwinnett. He’s struck out in 17 of 44 at-bats (39 percent) entering Thursday.

“What I’ve been told is that he’d expand and chase,” Anthopoulos said while speaking with media at SunTrust Park on Wednesday. “The strikeout total is higher than we would like.”

The prevailing thought when Acuna didn’t make the opening-day roster was he would be up for the first homestand following the April 13 date that, if Acuna was still in the minors, would ensure the Braves an additional year of contractual control.

But that assumption also included Acuna producing at a high level in the minors, as he did last season when he hit .325 with 60 extra-base hits (21 home runs) and stole 44 bases in route to being named Baseball America’s minor league player or the year and securing his status as the sport’s consensus top prospect.

“We’re looking for Ronald to get hot at this point,” Anthopoulos said. “I know it’s going to be talked about and so on, but once he starts to perform, unless there’s an immediate need, an injury or we have a lack of performance up here – more development isn’t going to hurt anybody. We’d prefer to call players up when they’re performing at a high level, when they’re locked in.”

Acuna has played better in his past six games, hitting .240 (6-for-25) with a homer, three runs scored, two RBIs and a swiped bag. But he’s struck out nine times in that span compared with five walks.

Anthopoulos wants to see him take over the league, similarly to how the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger forced his way to the majors with stellar play last season at Triple-A Oklahoma City, while Anthopoulos was part of the front office.

Bellinger, the Dodgers’ top prospect, hit .343 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the 18 games before his promotion. He went on to set the National League rookie-record for home runs with 39 homers in 132 games, winning the league’s rookie-of-the-year award.

“He was on fire down there,” Anthopoulos said of Bellinger. “Our manager down there was saying this guy is the best player in the league, he looks great, he’s locked in. Those are the types of conversations you hope to have. That’s when you’re looking to call guys up. When they’re locked in, when they’re feeling good, they’re seeing the ball well. That can happen at any time. So we’ll just continue to watch.”

Braves manager Brian Snitker said Tuesday that Acuna's performance would alert the Braves when he's ready; a blunt response from someone who's likely tired of answering questions pertaining to a player who's not in his 25-man clubhouse.

Those unfazed by Braves officials’ words have pointed to Acuna’s spring-training production, when he ranked second in the majors in average (.432), on-base percentage (.519), slugging percentage (.727) and OPS (1.247) before he was sent to minor-league camp.

The organization was thrilled with Acuna’s spring performance, but knows it was just a means of preparing for meaningful games.

“His ability, his talent, the upside; what we think of him long term hasn’t changed at all,” Anthopoulos said. “But like we talked about at the end of spring, there’s a difference between spring training and no one’s preparing for you, advancing for you. You’re playing six, seven innings, getting into the flow and routine of games.”

Anthopoulos pointed out most of the Stripers’ hitters have started slowly. Gwinnett manager Damon Berryhill previously admitted frigid conditions in Norfolk and Durham played at least a small role in their slow starts.

One theory has been related to the layoff minor league players suffered with the season started a week after the major-league season. Anthopoulos, however, isn’t as convinced that’s a factor.