Ronald Acuña, Jr.’s Most Consistent Contribution Will Be His Defense
The Ronald Acuña, Jr. era is here! The cornerstone of the Braves rebuilding project makes his much-anticipated debut tonight. What will it mean for the MLB club?
Simply put, the Braves will immediately become a better team. While Acuña, Jr.’s offensive exploits understandably grab most of the headlines, it is his defense that will be his most consistent contribution. Much like Ozzie Albies, a shortstop-caliber defender who is playing second base because of the presence of Dansby Swanson, Acuña, Jr.’s speed and arm make him an excellent defender in center. Ender Inciarte and his gold glove will push Acuña, Jr. to left where he will become perhaps the best defensive left-fielder in baseball the moment he sets foot in the outfield. Left field has been a wasteland for Atlanta on the defensive side of things over the past few seasons. When he was healthy, Matt Kemp was one of the worst defenders in baseball last season. After Freddie Freeman’s return from his wrist injury, the Braves tried to give hot-hitting Matt Adams at-bats by playing him in left only to discover that Adams was even worse than Kemp. This season has hardly been any different, as Preston Tucker is a limited defensive player. Even defensive specialist Peter Bourjos (now DFA’ed by the front office) has had some iffy moments in the field.
Acuña, Jr. solves these defensive issues, immediately, and Atlanta’s young pitching staff will benefit. Sometimes it is hard for us fans to fully appreciate the effect good defense can have on a game. A good defender can sometimes go unnoticed because he makes difficult plays look routine. A tough catch in the outfield might look easy for a good defender while a poorer defender might have to dive to make the same play. Acuña Jr.’s speed will allow him to track down fly balls (like this) that other left fielders would never even dream of reaching. And don’t worry, he’s also fully capable of making the spectacular catch, when necessary. The mere presence of Acuña, Jr. and his cannon arm will also deter base-runners from even attempting to take an extra base. He might not rack up huge numbers of outfield assists by throwing runners out at the plate, but his arm will nevertheless save runs.
In fact, the Braves might have an extra win on the season if Acuña, Jr. had been called up ahead of last night’s game. During that painful extra-innings loss to the lowly Reds, rookie reliever AJ Minter gave up two runs in the 7th inning of the game. Even though those runs show up in the box score as “earned” runs, the double that started the rally for the Reds happened because Preston Tucker misread a fly ball to left. Replace Tucker with Acuña, Jr. and that ball is likely caught, the Reds fail to put up any runs that inning, and Atlanta’s four-run rally in the ninth results in a win instead of an extra-innings loss. For a team that has fully committed to rebuilding through young pitching, having quality defenders at every position is essential. With Albies at second, Swanson at short, Inciarte in center, and now Ronald Acuña, Jr. in left, the Braves defense is finally starting to look like it could turn into an elite unit. That only means good things for the Braves.
