ATLANTA (AP) — The last time the Braves made a run to the World Series championship, Ronald Acuña Jr. could only watch.
Now, after a historic season that defied all conventional norms of the national pastime, Atlanta’s slugging speedster — or should we say speedy slugger? — has a chance to really shine in the playoffs.
October, after all, is where reputations are made for the ages.
Acuña has already established himself as baseball’s most thrilling performer, a guy who stormed right on through the 40-40 club — a group occupied by only five players in the history of the game — to set up his own exclusive cliques.
The 40-50 club. Come and gone.
The 40-60 club. Ditto.
Finally, he settled on the 40-70 club.
“It’s one of those numbers that wasn’t impossible but seemed impossible,” Acuña said, summing up perfectly the enormity of his accomplishments.
Indeed, he is the first player in baseball history with 40 homers and 70 stolen bases in a single season, which goes against everything we’ve been led to believe about playing the game.
Sure, there are plenty of muscle-bound boppers capable of knocking the ball over the fence. And, yes, there’s always been a place for lithe little guys who can swipe many a base.
But one player? Doing it all?
We can’t wait to see what Acuña does in the postseason, which for the MLB-leading Braves begins with the NL Division Series on Oct. 7.
Rest assured, no one is looking forward to this moment more than him.
In 2021, Acuña’s season ended in July when he tore up his right knee attempting to make a catch in Miami. The Braves rebuilt their outfield through several shrewd moves ahead of the trade deadline, giving them enough punch to win their first World Series title in more than a quarter-century.
For Acuña, it was a bittersweet moment. He was thrilled for his teammates, but longed for a chance to celebrate on the field.
Now, he’s got it.
The Braves have stormed through the season with a fearsome lineup headed by Acuña at the top of the order. They moved into the final weekend of the regular season with 103 wins, having already locked up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Their starting pitching is a bit suspect, but they’re certainly one of the favorites to win it all.
“I can’t wait for when we get that thing going, to see what he can do,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “The great ones, they have a penchant to love that spotlight. And he’s one of the great ones.”
Acuña provided a glimpse of that fondness for the big moments during his very first postseason appearance back in 2018.
As a 20-year-old rookie for a team that surprisingly made the playoffs, he became the youngest player ever to hit a postseason grand slam off the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series.
Acuña struggled in the 2020 NL Championship Series, hitting just .167 as the Braves squandered a 3-1 lead to the Dodgers, and he wasn’t on the field at all for Atlanta’s World Series triumph a year later.
