Ronald Acuña was less than his best for long enough that I started to worry we’d maybe seen the last of the swashbuckling outfielder.
And did we even want to see that Acuña again? He could get hurt if he goes all out. Better to play it safe and just sock homers.
Acuña wasn’t doing much of that, either, for his first 42 games. Then he suddenly did it all for the past four games.
He blasted homers, hit smart singles, took walks, stole bases and chased down balls in the outfield. Acuña was 6-for-13 during the four-game stretch, with a homer in every game, for a total of five.
Acuña homered in his last plate appearance against the Reds on Saturday. He hit out the first pitch he saw Sunday. Acuña walked seven times over the four games and stole four bases, getting caught only once.
It wasn’t just the numbers. It was the way Acuña looked at the plate.
Extending his arms to clobber pitches away. Turning on inside pitches with power. Taking a nice, easy swing to drive in runs with base hits. Laying off pitches and accepting free bases.
Acuña also made a couple of defensive blunders at Cincinnati. That’s part of the Acuña experience, too. He makes more good plays in the field than he misses, but the mistakes tend to be poorly timed.
You live with those miscues if Acuña is hitting like he can. He’s doing that now, plus all the other things that made him National League MVP in 2023. That’s the last season he homered in four straight games.
The Braves (40-20) won four of six games on the trip. They’re the first team to tally 40 wins. They were the first to 30 wins, too. The Braves still have just two series losses (16-2-1).
The Braves won most of those games with Acuña hitting just OK or out of the lineup with injury. It’s good to see the real Acuña back.
Weiss benches Kim for Mateo
The Braves signed shortstop Ha-Seong Kim for $20 million. After Kim had hand surgery, the team signed Jorge Mateo ($1 million) for insurance. He’s already paying off.
Mateo’s good production made benching Kim an easy call for manager Walt Weiss. Mateo started the first two of three games at Cincinnati. Kim was back in the lineup Sunday with Mateo as the designated hitter.
Weiss said shortstop would be a “day-to-day thing.” Playing Mateo more often is the best thing for the team now.
Weiss gave Kim a long on-ramp for his return from surgery. But Kim was awful over 47 plate appearances: 4-for-42 (.095) with no extra-base hits. Kim was 0-for-3 in his return to the lineup Sunday.
Mateo has produced the few times Weiss has called on him. He hit home runs in back-to-back games at Cincinnati. He’s hitting .316 with four homers and four doubles. Mateo has stolen six bases in seven tries.
Weiss is right to pick spots for Kim to get at-bats. The Braves need Kim to snap out of it eventually. Mateo won’t keep up his .876 OPS pace. Mauricio Dubón has cooled off.
Weiss will have to pick the right option at the right time. He’s been good at that so far. Weiss gave Kim a fair shot. Now he’s riding the guy who’s producing.
I can’t knock Braves baseball boss Alex Anthopoulos for signing Kim. His team needed a shortstop, and Kim was the best one on the market. Paying him good money was a reasonable decision that isn’t working out.
At least the Braves have good insurance.
Atlanta Dream dominate with defense
It was the Atlanta Dream at their best. They smothered Portland in the fourth quarter Friday night to turn a close game into an 86-66 rout.
The Fire scored just 13 points in the final period. Everywhere their ball handlers turned, Dream defenders were there. The Fire had as many turnovers (five) as field goals in the quarter. The Dream didn’t allow Portland to rebound any of its nine missed shots.
It was a typical fourth quarter for the Dream.
They lead the WNBA with 85.2 points allowed per 100 possessions in the fourth quarter. Seattle is next-best with a 97.7 defensive rating. The Dream’s fourth quarter net rating (42.4) is nearly 30 points better than Portland’s.
Some of that is the Angel Reese effect. She’s one of the league’s best rebounders and low-post defenders. The Dream were good defensively before she got here. Now they are deeper with bigs who can defend: Reese, Naz Hillmon and rookie Madina Okot.
The Dream have the WNBA’s second-best defensive rating. Forward Brionna Jones has yet to play because of a knee injury. Her return will make a great defensive team better.
Three quick thoughts
- When I heard about Georgia’s Tre Phelps getting tossed from Sunday’s game for taunting, I figured the umpires just weren’t letting him have fun. Then I saw the replay of his celebration and, well, it was excessive. Georgia beat Liberty to advance to the best-of-three super regionals, but Phelps must sit out the first game.
- Oklahoma’s comeback from six runs down at Russ Chandler Stadium on Sunday happened right after the bracket seemingly opened up for national No. 2 seed Georgia Tech. Saint Mary’s eliminated UCLA from the Los Angeles regional. The Bruins are the second national No. 1 seed to lose in the regionals, after Vanderbilt in 2025.
- I started to think I underestimated the Phillies. They won 19 of 27 games before going to Dodger Stadium for a weekend series. The Phillies lost two of three games in LA. They were 10½ games behind the Braves in the NL East before the surge. They are 9½ games behind the Braves after it.
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