Tag: Ronald Acuna Jr.

Side-by-side video showed just how astonishingly similar Mets rookie Luisangel Acuña’s swing is to his brother Ronald

The Mets have an Acuña too now.

Ever since Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. — currently injured with a torn ACL — broke into the big leagues back in 2018, he’s been a nightmare matchup for Mets pitching. So, that might have inspired the Mets’ brilliant strategy of battling the Braves’ Acuña with an Acuña of their own.

We’re only a few games into Luisangel Acuña’s MLB career, but the early returns have been phenomenal for New York. And it’s obvious where the younger brother of the Braves star found his inspiration.

Luisangel — who was acquired in last season’s deadline deal that sent Max Scherzer to Texas — hit is first MLB home run on Tuesday in the Mets’ 10-1 win over the Nationals. And really, you can’t blame Mets fans for having flashbacks when watching Luisangel swing the bat.

I mean, that’s a mirror image. They even have similar home run trots.

While Luisangel lacks the raw power that Ronald showed in the minors — especially given his smaller stature — he certainly has the potential to be a foundational piece for the Mets. Going up against his brother will only make that NL East rivalry even more exciting.

No wonder Mets fans were pumped after seeing the side-by-side video of Luisangel’s and Ronald’s swing.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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Ronald Acuña Jr. had a brutal drop on a routine fly ball against the Padres and fans roasted him

Yikes…

This certainly won’t be going on the Atlanta Braves’ 2024 highlight reel, that’s for sure.

On Sunday, the Braves hosted the San Diego Padres for a National League matchup, with Atlanta trailing the MLB-leading Philadelphia Phillies by 4.5 games. Coming off a blistering MVP season last year, Ronald Acuña Jr. hasn’t had the follow up year he’s been looking for with a .245 batting average and a .358 OBP in the first few months of the season.

And perhaps nothing might showcase Acuña’s struggles more this season than this absolutely botched routine fly ball. During the top of the fourth, with the Braves down 6-0, Manny Machado hit an easy ball right at Acuña for what should have been the second out of the inning. Instead … Acuña dropped the ball right out of his glove for a brutal error.

Yikes! Acuña didn’t even have to travel far to get in the path of the ball either, so that error is all on him for making such a blasé attempt at a catch. Acuña’s error also cost the Braves a run, as Jurickson Profar went to third on the botched play, then Xander Bogaerts hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning to drive him home.

Not the kind of effort you want to see from last year’s MVP!

Baseball fans roasted Ronald Acuña Jr. for this brutal drop against the Padres

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Ronald Acuña deviously pulled a Willy Wonka in front of reporters to prove he’s healthy

Ronald Acuna joked about his health by pulling a Willy Wonka.

Hey, remember that scene in the original 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in which Gene Wilder as Wonka comes out of his factory, limping and leaning heavily on his cane?

Sure you do. If you don’t, I posted it below. But here’s what happens next: suddenly he does a somersault and comes up walking just fine. Everyone has a laugh.

Well, it sounds like Ronald Acuña did something similar on Tuesday at Atlanta Braves spring training, per reporters: he used a bat like a cane at first, then was talking totally fine. That came after the Braves announced he’d be ready for Opening Day:

The 20 top selling MLB jerseys in 2023

Which player topped the list of MLB jersey sales in 2023?

When the calendar flips to October, it means one thing for many sports fans: playoff baseball.

Major League Baseball’s postseason is in full swing. It’s once again time for history to be written on the diamond and showcase the game’s biggest stars shining their brightest.

At the end of every regular season, the MLB releases the top-selling jerseys from that season.

Unsurprisingly, the list contains plenty of playoff contenders, a multitude of MVP candidates and simply some of the best baseball players on the planet

Check out the full list below, and grab a jersey to support your favorite player as the remaining lucky few march on towards the 2023 World Series.

Cubs announcers ripped the Braves for pausing an extra innings game over Ronald Acuña Jr. montage

“This is pretty absurd.”

A really cool thing happened on Wednesday night: Ronald Acuna Jr. stole his 70th base, making him the first MLB player ever with 40-plus home runs and 70 steals in a season. An NL MVP might be in his future.

The steal came in the 10th inning with the Atlanta Braves playing the Chicago Cubs, who are in the middle of trying to contend for a Wild Card spot.

Why I’m mentioning that: When Acuna stole the base, he picked it up in celebration and the game stopped in the middle of the inning for the Braves to show a montage. And the Cubs’ broadcast was NOT happy.

“Are we really stopping the game to do a highlight montage?” asked Boog Sciambi?

“Can we get the base after the game?” replied Jim Deshaies. “This is pretty absurd.”

I sort of get it with the Cubs trying to win a game but maybe this was a bit much.

Ronald Acuña Jr. wowed the MLB world with his blistering 121.2 mph home run against the Dodgers

The hardest-hit ball of the MLB season.

While Shohei Ohtani seems to be the runaway leader in the American League MVP race, the National League is enjoying one of the more competitive MVP battles we’ve seen in years with Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mookie Betts using this weekend’s series as a showcase to voters.

And just when Betts took the lead in some betting markets, Acuña Jr. had himself an “I took that personally” kind of series.

On Thursday, Acuña became the first player in MLB history with at least 30 home runs and 60 stolen bases in the same season. He followed that up with another home run on Friday. But come Saturday, he wasn’t done.

Batting in the third inning with a 3-0 count against Dodgers rookie Emmet Sheehan, Acuña demolished a fastball to straightaway center field. And when I say demolished, I’m not kidding.

According to Statcast, Acuña hit a 454-foot home run with an exit velocity of 121.2 mph (and a 19-degree launch angle!). It was the hardest hit ball by any player this MLB season, and it was the sixth-highest EV in the Statcast era. Out of home runs, only Giancarlo Stanton has hit a ball harder (he has home runs of 121.7 mph and 121.3 mph).

Acuña knew he had to make a statement this weekend to recapture the lead in the MVP race, and it’s safe to say that he exceeded even the loftiest of expectations at Dodger Stadium. Fans were in complete awe of that home run.

Cameras captured Freddie Freeman’s perfect Jim Halpert reaction to Ronald Acuña Jr.’s home run

This should become a meme.

Freddie Freeman is just like us: Even though he and his Los Angeles Dodgers were facing fellow NL MVP candidate Ronald Acuna Jr. and the Atlanta Braves, he had to appreciate Acuna’s dinger like fans did.

Bally Sports cameras took a view from the outfield at Acuna’s home run, and they caught Freeman reacting. He crossed his arms, watched, then glanced, as if he was appreciating it and then maybe saying, “OK. We have work to do.”

I couldn’t love this more. And I kind of hope that it becomes a meme of some sort (internet, you’ve got work to do, go for it):

This is the comparison that nailed it:

Ronald Acuña Jr. incredibly made MLB history with grand slam on same day as his wedding

Ronald Acuña Jr. had the best possible Thursday.

Atlanta Braves superstar outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. set the record straight on Thursday night as to who is really the National League MVP this season.

In a big rivalry game between the Braves and red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers with NL playoff ramifications, Acuña hammered a beautiful home run into the Dodgers stands with the bases loaded to give the Braves a 5-1 lead in the top of the second inning.

The homer helped Acuña make history as he became the first-ever MLB player to hit 30 home runs and steal 60 bases in a single season.

It also happened in Los Angeles, where fellow superstar Mookie Betts had been getting NL MVP consideration for his stellar 2023 season.

While Betts is a phenomenal player, Acuña’s historic 2023 season should probably tilt a very close NL MVP race in his favor when it’s all said and done.

What makes this historic night even more incredible is that Acuña literally got married earlier in the day to his longtime girlfriend Maria Laborde.

How often do you achieve so much in your life in one single day?

All we know is that we’ll take a National League Championship with the Braves and Dodgers duking it out for the third time in four years yesterday.

Also, plenty of congrats to Acuña on what’s surely one of the happiest days of his life.

Ronald Acuña Jr. was grabbed by fans on the field mid-game and MLB fans were horrified

This was not okay.

It’s not often that fans who jump onto the field during games make contact with a player. While some are able to evade security, usually the fan in question is escorted off the field before getting too close to any players on the field.

On Monday night, however, Ronald Acuña Jr. was alarmingly on the receiving end of being physically accosted by fans during a game.

During the Atlanta Braves’ visit to Coors Field to play against the Colorado Rockies, a pair of fans were able to jump into the outfield during the game. Not only were they able to make it onto the field, the fans were able to get close enough to Acuña to touch him before security arrived.

From video captured in the stadium, it seemed as if the fans were looking to take a selfie with Acuña, but the entire situation was quite scary all the same.

Thankfully, Acuña was okay after the incident and the fans were taken by security, but what a mess overall.

The MLB world, however, was horrified that fans were able to grab Acuña on the field as easily as they did.

Even D-backs manager Torey Lovullo was confused about Kevin Ginkel’s tantrum towards Ronald Acuña

His own manager called him out.

Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is running away with the National League MVP race because he makes an impact in virtually every facet of baseball. His performance on the base path has especially changed the game for the Braves this year, and we saw exactly how Acuña’s mere presence can throw off a pitcher.

The scene even left Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torrey Lovullo perplexed.

With the Braves looking to rally in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game against the D-backs, Acuña led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on an Austin Riley fly out. Pitcher Kevin Ginkel became fixated with Acuña taking a generous lead off third base. It got to the point where Ginkel became visibly upset and walked Acuña back to third base.

It was pretty clear that Acuña didn’t do anything wrong there, which had the D-backs trying to calm the pitcher down. Acuña would score on a passed ball and had a staredown with Ginkel as he crossed home plate.

After the game, which the Diamondbacks won, Lovullo sided with Acuña in the incident because, again, the Braves star didn’t do anything wrong.

“We’ll get that tightened up,” Lovullo said after the game.

MLB fans also appreciated how Lovullo handled the situation given Ginkel’s overreaction.