ATLANTA -- There was a time when it would have been unthinkable for an opposing manager to pitch around anybody to get to Ronald Acuña Jr. But there was also a time when it may have seemed unrealistic to think Acuña would struggle like he has in his past couple postseasons.
“We just need Ronald to be Ronald,” Braves ace Chris Sale said. “I'll be honest, 50 percent of him is better than most. I think going back home might alleviate a little bit of that pressure, being in front of our home fans, and just staying loose. I think you get into these situations, and sometimes you try to do more.”
Acuña will feel the love of the hometown fans at Truist Park on Tuesday. He will attempt to help Atlanta gain a 2-1 lead in this best-of-five series National League Division Series.
“I don't worry about him just because the talent is so big that it's going to show up,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said.
It’s not like Acuña is in a prolonged slump. He’s just in one that is magnified by the postseason’s bright lights. This is the same guy who produced a .997 OPS over his final 26 regular-season games.
But through this postseason’s first five games, Acuña is 3-for-18 with three walks, three strikeouts and no extra-base hits. He has provided some value via three stolen bases.
It should be noted he wasn’t dealing with the likes of Jesús Luzardo, Cristopher Sánchez, Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell on a daily basis during that strong closing stretch. But the high-quality pitching doesn’t lessen the frustration, especially when the postseason struggles extend beyond this current season.
“I love it when I face the pitchers that are superstars,” Acuña said. “Every time I go to the plate to compete. We're trying to win. So I'm doing my best. As you know, these pitches, they're nasty.”
When the 2023 version of Acuña hit .337, produced a 1.017 OPS and became the first player to ever tally 70-plus steals in a 40-homer season, it would have been unthinkable for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to do what he did in Atlanta’s Game 2 win.
With runners at second and third and one out in the eighth inning, Roberts had Roki Sasaki internationally walk Drake Baldwin to set up a righty-righty matchup against Acuña.
It’s not like Baldwin has been doing his thing either. His .484 OPS this postseason is actually lower than Acuña’s (.485). But Robert’s decision to pitch to a right-hander paid off when Acuña grounded into an inning-ending double play.
“I think any time you see someone go through something like that, you feel for them because you almost feel like they're trying to do too much or putting too much pressure on themselves,” Sale said.
Acuña has a .495 OPS in the 39 postseason plate appearances he’s had since 2023. That ranks 108th out of 121 MLB players who have tallied at least 35 plate appearances in the postseason since then.
But he’s certainly not the only superstar who has experienced prolonged slumps in the postseason.
Pete Crow-Armstrong will likely win the NL MVP this year. He ranks 120th on this same list with the .342 OPS he’s produced in 37 plate appearances. Braves first baseman Matt Olson has produced a pair of 40-plus homer seasons, but he actually ranks just behind Acuña with a .490 OPS.
“Ronald is the best player on the team and he’s the most talented,” Olson said. “He doesn’t have to be Superman. He can impact the game in so many ways. We’re all totally confident in the guy that he is and the talent that he is.”