NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Ronald Acuña Jr. began this week by serving as an extra in his friend Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show. The Braves outfielder has since come to Spring Training with the sense his body will allow him to once again maximize his tremendous talents.
So, is it safe to say he is feeling a hundred percent?
“No, no, I’m feeling 200 percent,” Acuña said.
Yeah, that’s a non-existent value. But nobody thought a 40-homer, 70-steal season would ever exist before Acuña produced one in 2023. So, he has some creative license when it comes to numbers.
What’s important is that Acuña is approaching this season with genuine confidence that he can trust his two surgically-repaired knees. After tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament in 2021, he labored through 2022 and then had the incredible 40-70 season during his 2023 NL MVP campaign. A left ACL tear suffered in 2024 led to inconsistent production in 2025.
So, what should be expected this year?
“Ronald looks great,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “Mentally and emotionally, he's in a really good place. He’s missed some time the last few years. We all know he’s a Hall of Fame talent. But you’ve got to do it for a while, and he's certainly capable of doing that. He's like a bull that's ready for the door to open.”
Acuña certainly burst back on the scene last year. He homered on the first pitch he saw during his May 23 season debut and was elected to the All-Star Game for the fifth time despite missing most of the season’s first two months. But his offensive production dipped after he suffered a right calf strain near the end of July. The energetic and aggressive outfielder was also far more cautious on the bases than in the past, as he totaled just 10 stolen-base attempts over 95 games.
But another season removed from that second major knee surgery, Acuña seems ready to prove his offensive value still far exceeds his tremendous power. He enhanced confidence in the strength of his legs as he stole 11 bases over 16 games in the Venezuelan Winter League.
“I wanted to [test] my legs and feel that my knee was comfortable,” Acuña said. “That’s what I did and I feel great.”
What might a healthy Acuña do?
Well, the 28-year-old veteran has played 150-plus games just twice since debuting in 2018. Here is what he did those years:
2019: 41 HRs, 37 SBs, .883 OPS, 156 games
2023: 41 HRs, 73 SBs, 1.012 OPS, 159 games
Without a second ACL tear, it wouldn’t have been unrealistic to think Acuña could bid for another season with 70-plus steals. But with stolen-base guru Antoan Richardson now serving as the Braves’ first-base coach, is Acuña physically capable of attempting to become the first player with two 40-40 seasons?
“I don't know about 40-40,” Acuña said. “But I just want to do my best to help my team win a lot of games and make the playoffs.”