Ronald Acuna sat six feet away from media members Tuesday morning — part of MLB's recently imposed mandate — and fielded questions about his lack of spring production.
Acuna was all smiles and even mixed in a few laughs. Consider it a minimal concern.
“I’ve always been a slow starter, and I don’t know why to be honest,” Acuna said via team interpreter Franco Garcia. “I don’t know what the reason is. It’s something I usually don’t give much mind to because I know what I’m capable of. I just keep my head strong and keep a positive attitude.”
The 22-year-old outfielder, coming off a top-five MVP finish, has done little in the past two weeks. Acuna was 2-for-24 in his first nine exhibition games entering Tuesday, when he went 1-for-2 with a walk. He's struck out 10 times and doesn't have an extra-base hit.
Yet the history Acuna alluded to is correct. In 2018, when the Braves kept Acuna in Triple-A despite a successful spring, he sputtered for a healthy chunk of time in the minors before making his MLB debut in late April. He had a .211 average and .297 on-base percentage through 23 games before he permanently joined the big-league club.
Last season, the reigning rookie of the year started 4-for-31 (.129) with two homers and four RBIs in his first nine games. He followed that with a nine-game hitting streak in which he hit .500 with four homers and 10 RBIs, launching his first All-Star season.
Acuna hit .280/.365/.883 with 41 homers, 101 RBIs and 37 steals. This season, he plans to complete that 40-40 quest. These expectations are the highest yet. But one day at a time, as the Braves’ mantra goes.
“I always come in with the same mentality no matter what,” Acuna said. “I try to be energetic, upbeat and positive. To me, the way I look at every spring training and every time I’m out there, I’m trying to earn a job. That’s my mentality. I’m trying to earn my job, keep my job, whatever it is. That’s how I look at it.”
Now, Acuna obviously isn’t competing for his job. His right-field position and spot atop the team’s lineup is safe. He’s still approached this spring the same as two years ago, when he was fighting for a roster spot, although “I’d say the only difference is back then I was hitting, and right now I’m not hitting,” he said with a laugh.
Acuna’s prevailing message: “What’s important is what happens March 26 and on.”
The Braves agree. And until Acuna’s underperformance persists into the first week of April, you won’t see anyone around the team fretting.
“If it did any good to worry, he’d probably be hitting three homers every day,” manager Brian Snitker said. “I look at it the same way as when he came back from injury before the (2019) playoffs. We had him do some live BPs (batting practices), he couldn’t put the ball in play. Then in the playoffs he was an animal. As long as he feels good and confident. You have to look through results.”
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