Acuña's scorching September rolls on with go-ahead slam

HOUSTON -- When Mauricio Dubón was asked what it was like to see Ronald Acuña Jr. go on a tear over the past few weeks, he knew Acuña was within earshot.

“I’ve been telling him, ‘Let me see some Ronald Acuña [stuff],’” Dubón said. “I haven’t seen it all year. He’s been hurting or lacking. But now I get to see [some of that stuff].”

Acuña Jr. laughed as he passed Dubón and the group of reporters who were receiving this message on Friday night. Life has been good recently for the 2023 National League MVP and it got even better when he hit a seventh-inning grand slam that provided the Braves a key 6-3 win over the Astros on Saturday night at Daikin Park.

“I feel like every big situation that comes up, he's answering,” Braves starting pitcher Grant Holmes said. “For him to turn it around like he has in the past month, it's pretty special. He’s getting hot at the right time.”

Acuña’s surge over the past month has powered the Braves through a pennant race that is nearing its end. The Braves now sit six games ahead of the Phillies in the National League East with just seven games remaining. Any Atlanta win or Philadelphia loss the rest of the way would give Atlanta its seventh NL East crown within the past nine seasons.

“It's exciting, especially when you think of the entire year and you look at it from 10,000 feet,” manager Walt Weiss said. “There's some really good things going on, and some guys stepping up. Yeah, I’m proud of these guys.”

Acuña was a rookie when the first of those recent division crowns was captured in his 2018 rookie season, and he’s now the seasoned veteran counted on to deliver like he did with the latest of his five career grand slams.

Astros right-hander Bryan Abreu entered with bases loaded and one out in the seventh. After striking out Drake Baldwin, Abreu threw a 1-0 fastball that Acuña drilled over the left-center-field wall.

“It’s the best feeling ever when a guy is throwing 96 or 97 and you get it,” Acuña said. “You don’t feel anything.”

Acuña’s decision to widen his stance a few weeks ago has halted his struggles against fastballs. This grand slam came against a 96.9 mph fastball located in the top left quadrant of the strike zone. Just 20 of 1,723 swings taken by a right-handed hitter against a right-handed pitcher versus a pitch this speed or greater in that zone entering Saturday had resulted in a home run this year.

Acuña has homered six times in 17 games this month, and is hitting .373 with a 1.129 OPS over his past 21 games. He did a lot of damage against the Phillies, hitting .464 with three homers and a 1.377 OPS in seven games against them this month.

This surge has been reminiscent of what the Braves right fielder routinely did during his MVP season, or at least before he tore the left anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in 2024. Three years earlier, he had torn his right ACL.

“If you have both knees reconstructed, it takes time, not only physically but mentally, to regain the confidence in really letting it fly,” Weiss said. “I think we're seeing that now with Ronald again.”

While attempting to gain confidence in his two surgically-repaired knees this year, Acuña dealt with separate left hamstring strains. He was hitting just .228 with a .731 OPS when Weiss left the outfielder out of the lineup for the Aug. 26 series finale against the Dodgers.

As the Braves completed a sweep that night, Acuña worked in the batting cage and grew comfortable with the wider stance he has used over the past few weeks. He tallied three hits against the Rockies the next night and has since looked like the same superstar he has been whenever he is healthy.

“Finally, I got my timing and everything,” Acuña said. “I’m just having fun out there.”