Acuna’s arrival caps big week for Braves
Atlanta is finding power and confidence early in the season.
Ronald Acuna Jr. hit the first home run of his major league career Thursday as the Atlanta Braves won 7-4 to salvage a series split against the Cincinnati Reds. The Braves ended the four-game series with a 14-10 record, after not recording their 14th win until the middle of May last season. Here are a few observations about the series, and the Braves’ start to the season.
Calling for Acuna
Around midnight Tuesday, a set of tweets sent shockwaves throughout Braves Country, and baseball at large. The news was spreading that the 20-yearold Acuna would be called up from Triple-A Gwinnett and dethrone 21-year-old Ozzie Albies, his teammate and close friend, as the youngest player in the majors.
It was expected that Acuna would join the Atlanta roster April 14. That was the date the Braves would be able to call him up while keeping the extra year of contractual control.
It was not to be as Acuna got off to a slow start at Gwinnett and Preston Tucker, added during the offseason to play left field as a bridge to Acuna, started out hot.
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said that as soon as Acuna heated up, he would be in Atlanta. The native Venezuelan responded accordingly, hitting better that .300 in the 10 games preceding his call-up.
Joining the Braves on Wednesday in Cincinnati, Acuna went 1-for-5 in his first game. His hit came in the eighth inning.
The two plays after the hit showed why Acuna has been regarded by many as one of the top prospects in baseball. He went first to third on a single by Dansby Swanson and soon scored on a hit by Kurt Suzuki.
The play took Braves manager Brian Snitker back to the future.
“This is the type of athleticism we had when we put all those banners on the wall,” Snitker said to media after Wednesday’s win. “We have so many guys who can take that extra base and score a run. It’s really fun to be around.”
It was Braves’ fourth win this season in their last at-bat, and their seventh comeback victory.
Minty fresh
A.J. Minter recorded just the Braves’ second save of the Braves season Wednesday, and the first of Minter’s career.
After the game, Snitker said Minter would get more opportunities to close games, depending on the situation.
Arodys Vizcaino has been the closer to start the season, and he finished Thursday’s 7-4 win for his second save of the season and third for the Braves.
Shane company
When Snitker told reliever Shane Carle that he had made the opening day roster, it was a surprise to him.
“The kid said, ‘Really? Me?” Snitker said.
Carle has gone on to prove that he belongs. The 26-year-old, who pitched briefly for the Colorado Rockies last year, has only given up two earned runs in 12 appearances over 17 1/3 innings. He has not given up a run since April 11. On Thursday, Carle was credited with his fourth hold of the season, pitching a scoreless eighth inning as the bullpen combined for three shutout innings. Atlanta’s corps of relievers have now thrown seven consecutive scoreless innings.
Hit parade
The seven runs scored Thursday gave the Braves a National League-best 134 on the season. Meanwhile, Freddie Freeman hit three doubles and Albies and Acuna each had one to gives Atlanta 57 doubles on the season, breaks the franchise record for doubles through April.
“There are a lot of good things happening,” Freeman told MLB. com. “There are a lot of fresh, young legs that were making things happen. It was a lot of fun to see from the dugout. When you have a lot of young guys making impacts that are big parts of the future, it’s exciting and it’s fun to come to the yard every day.”
The young guys are hitting well, but Freeman is still catalyst. The veteran first baseman has 29 hits in 89 at-bats with 11 doubles, 20 walks and 17 RBI.
Albies is off to an incredible start. After his homer and a double Thursday, he now has 19 extra-base hits, and he is tied with Swanson for the team lead with 30 hits. Albies is also tied with Washington Nationals’ Bryce Hunter and Colorado Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon with an NL-best eight homers.
“That little guy has some thunder in his bat,” Swanson said of the 5-foot-8 Albies. “He’s so fun to watch.”