The topic of whether top prospect Ronald Acuna should be in the Majors or in Triple-A is one of the most oft-discussed topics certainly among Braves fans but also among fans throughout the league. The 20-year-old, after all, has been widely billed as a phenom in the waiting and topped the majority of prospect rankings from major outlets this offseason (with the occasional exception of Shohei Ohtani, when he was deemed eligible for such lists).
Acuna opened the 2017 season in Class-A Advanced and skyrocketed to Triple-A by season’s end. The Venezuelan-born slugger didn’t just move up the ladder, though; his numbers actually improved upon each promotion, culminating with a .344/.393/.548 line in Triple-A.
Overall, Acuna slashed .325/.374/.522 with 21 homers, 31 doubles, eight triples and 44 steals across three minor league levels in 2017 — and he did so all before turning 20 years of age this past December. Even before reading any of the many glowing scouting reports on Acuna, it’s abundantly clear that he’s a special talent. Teenagers simply don’t perform that well in pro ball.
Entering the season, the thought was that the Braves, like many teams do with elite prospects, would take advantage of Major League Baseball’s service time infrastructure and hold Acuna in the minors long enough to delay his free agency by a year. Doing so would only require him to be in Gwinnett until mid-April. While some may bristle at the notion, it’s hard to argue, from a front-office standpoint, that the extra two weeks of games in 2018 are worth sacrificing Acuna’s entire 2024 season — his age-27 campaign. Keeping Acuna in the minors for those couple of weeks makes perfect sense from a long-term view.
That date has come and gone, however, meaning the Braves can bring their vaunted wunderkind to the Majors at any point, knowing he’ll be controlled through 2024. Bringing him up now would mean allowing him to reach arbitration four times as a Super Two player rather than the standard three times, but that’s of relatively minimal consequence — at least when juxtaposed with the notion of losing an entire year of club control over his prime.
But although Acuna dominated Grapefruit League play in Spring Training (.432/.519/.727), that hasn’t been the case in the regular season. It’s only nine games and 41 plate appearances, of course, but Acuna is hitting .139/.244/.167 in Triple-A. After striking out at a 19.8 percent clip last season, he’s already whiffed 14 times in 41 plate appearances (34.1 percent).
None of that does anything to change the perception that Acuna is a star in the making, but it stands to reason that the Braves may not relish the idea of taking a struggling 20-year-old and bringing him to the big leagues to face even tougher competition. It doesn’t help that Preston Tucker has filled in capably at the big league level. Even though the 27-year-old likely isn’t a long-term piece, and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that his start isn’t sustainable, the fact remains that the Braves have gotten some production out of Acuna’s would-be spot in the lineup.
That, of course, isn’t deemed a good enough reason for Acuna to be in the minors for many. Narratives on his brief minor league struggles will suggest that he’s pressing to earn a promotion or not engaged enough by the lack of competition. Atlanta skipper Brian Snitker went with the similarly nebulous explanation that Acuna is “trying too hard” at the moment (link via MLB.com’s Mark Bowman). It’s understandable if Braves fans want to see him up at all costs; it’s been a lengthy rebuilding process down in Georgia, and Acuna’s arrival could in many ways mark a move back toward contention. It’s also true that attendance figures would likely spike, at least in the short term, the moment that Acuna is called upon for his highly anticipated debut. And if he’s anything close to the player that most believe he will be, there’s also an argument to be made that Acuna ought to be added to a ballclub that has played rather well and may yet be a fringe postseason contender.
All of those factors enter into the calculus of when Acuna will be brought to the big leagues. It’s a decision the Atlanta front office won’t make lightly, as the last thing first-year GM Alex Anthopoulos and his staff want to do is have to demote Acuna back to Gwinnett if he struggles out of the gate. At the same time, Anthopoulos & Co. are no doubt cognizant of the fanbase’s desire to see Acuna attack Major League pitching and of the manner in which a strong arrival on the scene would invigorate the Atlanta faithful.
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Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brixton
Sure why not
bigcubsfan
I say promote him as soon as possible. The best players should be in the major leagues. He would be an improvement of Joe Po0pler in left field.
bravesfan
Hold off until he’s out of his slump. Simple as that. No need to embark upon the toughest competition he’s ever faced in the middle of a slump. He’ll get out of it soon.
baseballfanforever
He has had a habit of starting out slowly every year. He even started out in spring training slowly. He will start hitting regardless of where he is. I hardly think the majors is going to phase this guy because we all think he is a “can’t miss prospect” and we all know he tore it up in the AFL anyway (was the MVP).
Knowthemarket
2016 April OPS .757
2016 May OPS .852
2017 April OPS .805
2017 May OPS. 1.035
Those aren’t slow starts. The problem is either in his head or simply a small sample size.
nymetsking
Could be a problem in his head, or maybe it’s just, ya know… a slump. Happens in baseball.
southi
To be honest as soon as he starts hitting the ball better over a five or six game period I’d probably go ahead and promote him.
jdolan74
Preston Tucker is killing it for us right now. Bourjos and Lane have also been terrific as the 4th outfielders. I do not bring him up until September at this rate, unless he is hitting .400 at Gwinnett. If he comes up, he needs to be the starter. Tucker will need to have dipped below .250 as well. These are good problems to have if you’re a Braves fan.
braves25
I like how you are thinking, but what if Markakis starts to slump? I personally say as soon as Acuna gets HOT bring him up. If Tucker is still hitting over him to RF and have Markakis as the 4th OF.
k26dp 2
Tucker is hitting .130/.167/.261 over his last 9 games.
Small sample size? Absolutely. About as small as the one Acuna is being judged by.
Rocket32
When he starts hitting the ball again at AAA. Once he starts hitting then bring him up. Glad that the Braves seem to be playing it smart not rushing him instead of giving in to the fans and to the excitement him being promoted will bring. At the end of the day they aren’t going anywhere this season anyway, no reason to rush their best prospect to the majors.
axisofhonor25
Ok gonna say now because I needed him for my fantasy two like yesterday. But in reality, definitely until he starts hitting.
sufferforsnakes
Uh….when they feel like it?
Steve Kinsella
Pretty sure the date is actually tomorrow. If a player is sent down to start the season (no service time that year) and is called up before 20 days have elapsed on the season, and the player never goes to minors remainder of the season, that he would be granted a full years service…..
I know that was pretty wordy……
Basically, 3 days end of March ….April 1 through 17……17 days….
So, 4/18/18 would be the official day that players like Acuna can come up without worrying about the extra year.
I don’t know if the 20-day provision was added to this CBA (don’t remember it being around with Kris Bryant), but it’s there now.
lowtalker1
Or go up in June and avoid super 2 status
Steve Kinsella
My personal opinion….there is almost no reason for team’s to fret about Super 2 status…given the changes that will be coming to the system the next CBA.. If I were a GM and reading tea leaves AND my goal was to maximize my assets AND player was deemed ready (this is key), Super 2 would not be a main variable.in my decision to call up a player.
Sorry again to be so wordy with the AND’s
Zach725
I want him to be patient at the plate. He is chasing a lot of pitches in AAA that are out of the zone because he wants to impress the braves. What’s to say he won’t do it at the MLB level. Let his bat heat up in AAA before promoting him.
jakec77
Braves are daring an arbitrator of they sent him down after tearing up spring training only to recall him as soon as extra year guaranteed notwithstanding the fact he isn’t hitting
ndiamond2017
No they’re not. The Cubs were very transparent about what they were doing with Kris Bryant and nothing came of it.
GareBear
Hate to be that guy Steve but the Snitker quote has a grammar error. “Trying to hard” should be “Trying too hard”.
blkjeepxj122
Then don’t be that guy
natsgm
Did that error affect your understanding of the quote?
Jimcarlo Slaton
Is it grammar error, or grammatical error?
I say grammatical.
brucewayne
Did either one really matter at all? Jeez! Someone needs to/too get a life! How was my grammar/grammer?
TradeAcuna
In 2025 when the tanking stops and MLB will put sanctions on teams tanking.
Zach725
How are you going to stop tanking?
bigcubsfan
Give the highest draft picks to the best teams.
ubercubsfan 2
Leave the ranking as it is. Just do away with draft caps. That’s when tanking really started becoming the way to go. Let teams spend boatloads on a 20th draft pick or comp pick. It’ll make teams have to pick who will sign again, but then that means nobody will just tank for that first slot that may or may not actually sign.
brucewayne
Oh that will fix it for sure! Make the bad teams even worse! LoL
camdenyards46
Once he gets hot then bring him up. They already got the extra year of control.
Senioreditor
I’d bring him up now. He’s pouting at AAA and that’s why he’s not hitting. He’s pretty young and probably immature but if he struggles they can send him back down.
baseballfanforever
That’s what I think too. I think he is pressing because he is trying to prove everyone wrong that he should not have been sent down. Oh who knows, maybe he is just starting out slowly like he always does.
rodrda01
Haha are you a parent? Hopefully not with a mindset like ‘he’s pouting, give him what he wants.’
Backatitagain
Acuna should stay in minors until June 2019, or when he is signed to a long term deal. He needs to be in AA now instead of Gwinnett. Trading him would not be out of the question for me. A deal with the Mets for Conforto and Syndergaard should be considered.
DanzigInTheDark
wow there is a lot to unpack here
TrueOutcomeFan
This can’t be real.
Knowthemarket
Troll?
astrosfan
There’s no rush. Just leave him alone and let him work things out. He needs more time in the minors.
its_happening
Anthopoulos’ style is to keep guys in the minors for as long as possible to maintain the most control. More than likely won’t see him promoted anytime soon.
TrueOutcomeFan
3/29/18
Knowthemarket
The situation is troubling to me but only a little. My only concern is that the issue is between his ears. It’s not like I have a lazy boy set up there though so it’s difficult to know anything.
It seemed the most natural transition would have been to move him straight to the roster. The Braves sacrificed what would have felt natural to gain almost a year on the service clock and maybe we are seeing the consequences. Or maybe I am just putting to much into this.
In any event, Tucker’s hot start may already be at an end. He’s gotten 2 hits out of his last 20 AB. Tucker never should have even delayed Acuna.
Bryzzo2016
The Braves aren’t contenders this year, even if they were trying to be, they still need to wait to start the clock like the Cubs did in 2015 w/Bryant. Bryant still won ROY, the Cubs still advanced to the NLCS and they still secured an extra year of control. It’s a no brainer.
afsooner02
Yesterday….