Ronald Acuna said he never succumbed to pressure in his 17 minor-league games before joining the Braves Wednesday.
Braves manager Brian Snitker and Triple-A Gwinnett manager Damon Berryhill both said Acuna was pressing when he got off to a slow start.
The 20-year-old was hitting .139 nine games into the season with one extra-base hit, five walks and 14 strikeouts.
Speaking with the media Wednesday in Cincinnati, Acuna said he wasn’t pressing in the early going.
“I never really felt any pressure,” Acuna said through an interpreter. “We all know baseball has its highs and lows. I never put extra pressure on myself or felt pressured, we just weren’t getting the results we wanted. Like I said, baseball has its highs and lows.”
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Acuna wouldn’t be promoted to the majors until he got hot. Acuna accepted the challenge.
He came on in the final eight games, hitting .333 (11-for-33) with three multi-hit efforts.
“I really didn’t change much,” Acuna said. “I’d kind of been doing the same thing I’d been doing my entire career through all the years. But it’s always good to have those guys there because they’re the ones who watch you play. You can’t watch yourself do those things. Having them there, they’re the ones, the coaches, who can say what you’re doing well or not doing well.”
