Ronald Acuna Jr. (26, Atlanta) is greedy. He’s in MVP mode, and he doesn’t want to miss the king of stolen bases either.
Acuna started as a right fielder in the 2023 major league home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers held on the 23rd (hereinafter Korean time) at True Park in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 1 hit in 4 at-bats, 1 walk, 1 steal and 2 points. His season batting average was 0.342.
Acuna is digesting a contract worth 1.0124 billion dollars (approximately 163.1 billion won). Since his 2018 debut, health has always been an issue. He had no season in which he played in more than 120 games, except for 2019, when he played in 156 games. In 2021, he only played 82 games due to knee cruciate ligament rupture and surgery. In the aftermath, he only appeared in 119 games last year as well.
But he’s healthy this season. He almost skipped the game due to sand dunes, but he diligently plays the game. He has appeared in all 47 games Atlanta has played to this day. 29 wins and 18 losses, contributing greatly to leading the National League East Division.
184 at-bats, 63 hits, batting average of .342, 11 homers, 27 RBIs, 46 runs scored, 19 stolen bases, 0.598 slugging percentage, 0.430 on-base percentage, 1.028 OPS. He ranks first in the National League in runs scored, stolen bases, batted, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, and ranks 15th in RBI. He took first place in MLB.com’s April National League MVP mock vote.
His explosive athletic ability is his greatest strength. On that day, he succeeded in stealing third base against the Dodgers and announced his solo run in the stealing category in the National League. It was the bottom of the fifth, trailing 4-6. He emerged as the leadoff hitter and singled out a walk from Gavin Stone. Matt Olsen stole third base at bat. Stealing his 19th base of the season.
Acuna’s stolen bases were only four games after the game against Texas Rangers on the 18th. He stole bases 19 times and failed only twice. He ran away by 5 runs to Ji-hwan Bae (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Jazz Chi-jom Jr. (Miami Marlins, more than 14) for second place.
In the case of Bae Ji-hwan,안전놀이터 after stealing his 14th base against the Toronto Blue Jays on the 6th, there was no news of stealing in 12 consecutive games until the match against the Texas Rangers on the same day. He even failed to steal four times in a row. Bae Ji-hwan and Chi-jom Jr. both recently faltered and Acuna’s solo mode.
For reference, Esteuri Ruiz (Oakland Athletics, 24 stolen bases) ranks first overall in major league stolen bases. He leads the American League and has five more than Acuna. He is on pace to steal 90 bases this season. Acuna is also capable of stealing 50 bases or more.