Atlanta Braves proper fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. remained in MVP kind on Monday. That is good news for a Braves staff in determined want of one thing to rejoice.
Hours after saying that ace Chris Sale (fractured rib) had been moved to the injured listing and not using a timetable for return, Acuna, enjoying in his twenty eighth sport after recovering from a torn ACL in April 2024, went 2-of-5 with a house run in a 3-2 win over the New York Mets.
This season, Acuna has an eye-popping .396/.500/.713 slash line with 9 dwelling runs.
The Braves (36-41) misplaced their first seven video games this season and have been enjoying catch-up ever since. On June 8, they fell a season-high 10 video games under .500 after one other seven-game dropping streak dropped their report to 27-37.
Atlanta is 9-4 over its final 13 video games and has a plus-25 run differential general, which interprets to a 41-35 Pythagorean win-loss report, suggesting it has considerably underperformed in the course of the season’s first half.
Sale’s harm is one other setback, however the best way Acuna is enjoying, he would possibly be capable of will the Braves again to relevancy.
Acuna appears as sharp as he did when receiving 2023 NL MVP honors. That season, the eight-year veteran slashed .337/.416/.596 with 41 dwelling runs and MLB-highs in hits (217), runs (149) and stolen bases (73).
Getting into Monday, the Braves had been 11 video games behind the Philadelphia Phillies (47-31) for first within the NL East and 7 behind the Milwaukee Brewers (43-35) for the league’s final wild-card.
Baseball Reference offers them a slight 10.6% likelihood to achieve the postseason, so the chances are in opposition to the Braves turning issues round. However as sizzling as Acuna is, something’s attainable.
