Ronald José Acuña Blanco Jr. (born December 18, 1997) is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). After signing with the Braves as an international free agent in 2014, Acuña made his MLB debut in 2018, and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
Since 2018, Acuña has made five MLB All-Star team appearances, won three Silver Slugger Awards, and twice led the league in stolen bases. During the 2023 season, he became the fifth MLB member of the 40–40 club, set a modern-era franchise record in stolen bases, with 73, and became the first MLB player to accomplish a 40–70 season. Acuña won the 2023 National League Most Valuable Player Award. In 2026, Acuña helped Venezuela win its first ever World Baseball Classic.
Contents
Career
Minor leagues
Acuña signed with the Atlanta Braves for $100,000 as an international free agent in July 2014. He made his professional debut in 2015 with the Gulf Coast Braves and was promoted to the Danville Braves that season. In 55 games between the two teams, he batted .269 with four home runs, 18 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases.
In 2016, he slashed .312/.392/.429 with four home runs and 19 RBIs in only 42 games combined between the Gulf Coast Braves and Rome Braves due to an injury. After the season, he played for the Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League and was named an ABL All-Star. Acuña made his first appearances in Grapefruit League games at the start of the 2017 season as an extra player originally assigned to minor league camp. He began the year with the Florida Fire Frogs of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League and was later promoted to the Mississippi Braves of the Class AA Southern League. Acuña was named to the All-Star Futures Game roster in July, and played the whole game, one of three World Team members to do so. He reported to the Gwinnett Braves of the Class AAA International League immediately after the All-Star break, making his International League debut against the Charlotte Knights, during which he hit an opposite-field home run in his second at bat. For the year, Acuña appeared in 139 games, hitting .325/.374/.522 with 21 homers, 82 RBIs and 44 stolen bases.
After the 2017 minor league regular season ended, Acuña was invited to join the Arizona Fall League and was assigned to the Peoria Javelinas. He played 23 games in the AFL hitting .325/.414/.639 alongside seven home runs, winning the league championship and claiming league MVP honors, becoming the AFL's youngest most valuable player.
Baseball America ranked Acuña as the No. 1 Major League Baseball prospect heading into the 2018 season. MLB.com ranked him second to Japanese pitcher/hitter Shohei Ohtani. Acuña began the year at major league spring training. Despite a .432 average and four home runs in spring training, Acuña was reassigned to minor league camp on March 19, 2018. He reported to the Gwinnett Stripers to begin the 2018 season.
Atlanta Braves
On April 25, 2018, at the age of just 20 years, 128 days, the Braves promoted Acuña to the major leagues. This made him the youngest player in Major League Baseball at that time, supplanting teammate Ozzie Albies who was 11 months older. Though Acuña wore uniform number 24 throughout his minor league career in honor of Miguel Cabrera, he made his major league debut on April 25, 2018, wearing number 13. Against the Cincinnati Reds, Acuña collected his first career hit off Kevin Shackelford. He finished the game 1-for-5 and scored the game-tying run in the eighth inning as the Braves won 5–4. The next day, also against the Reds, Acuña hit his first MLB home run off Homer Bailey. He finished the game 3-for-4 as the Braves won 7–4. On May 28, Acuña was placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a mild ACL sprain and a bruise in his left knee as well as back contusion. On June 21, the Braves optioned Acuña to Triple-A Gwinnett for a rehab assignment.
Acuña regularly hit in the leadoff spot in the lineup after the All-Star break. His performance improved markedly as he implemented an adjustment to his batting stance at the suggestion of Kevin Seitzer. While playing against the Miami Marlins on August 13, 2018, Acuña became the fourth player in the history of Major League Baseball to hit a home run to lead off both games of a doubleheader. Additionally, he had hit a home run in his last four games, becoming the youngest player since 1920 to accomplish the feat. By hitting a home run off Trevor Richards on August 14, Acuña became the youngest major leaguer ever to hit home runs in five consecutive games, as well as the fifth batter in Atlanta Braves history to do so. Facing Adam Conley later that same game, Acuña hit his second home run of the night, marking the first time he had ever hit more than one home run in a game.
In the finale of the Braves' series against the Marlins on August 15, Acuña faced José Ureña, who hit him with the first pitch of the game. Ureña was ejected from the game, while Acuña was replaced in the field at the top of the second inning. Acuña played the Braves' next game against the Colorado Rockies on August 16. When Acuña next played the Marlins on August 23, he hit another home run, and was subsequently struck by another pitch. His production during the month of August won him the Major League Baseball Rookie of the Month Award. On September 2, Acuña hit his seventh leadoff home run, tying a Braves team record, set by Marquis Grissom, for such home runs in a season. Three days later, Acuña broke the team's leadoff home run record in a game against the Boston Red Sox. With his 25th home run on September 9, Acuña became the seventh player in MLB history to hit that many home runs while under the age of 21. Later that month, it was announced that Acuña would be playing in the MLB Japan All-Star Series scheduled for November. With his fifteenth stolen base on September 22, 2018, Acuña became the fourth player in MLB history to record a 25–15 season, while aged 20 or below, alongside Alex Rodriguez, Orlando Cepeda, and Mike Trout. Overall with the 2018 Braves, Acuña appeared in 111 MLB games, batting .293 with 26 home runs and 64 RBIs.
Player profile
Batting style
A powerful right-handed batter, Acuña has an all-around batting range. Former major league hitter Sean Casey compared Acuña's batting style to Roberto Clemente, as his natural core power and rotational torque allows him to hit without a backswing, keeping the knob of the bat pointing down at home plate (normally pointing towards the catcher during the backswing), yet still making contact and maintaining control of the barrel.
Baserunning
On the basepaths, Acuña starts like an infielder with a more upright stance, or a running back standing with a slight bend of the knees and hands on the knees to generate greater acceleration. According to Harold Reynolds, who adopted the Rickey Henderson technique for both baserunning and fielding, the stance also stops him from leaning or tipping-off fielders for base stealing.
Personal life
Acuña's grandfather, Romualdo Blanco, and father, Ronald Acuña Sr., played minor league baseball. Acuña Sr. represented Venezuela at the 2011 Pan American Games. Acuña Jr. is the eldest of four sons. His mother is Leonelis Blanco. Two of his brothers currently play baseball professionally: Luisangel, who plays for the Chicago White Sox, and Bryan, who plays in the Minnesota Twins organization. An uncle, José Escobar, played for the Cleveland Indians in 1991, and several cousins have also played in Major League Baseball, namely Vicente Campos, Alcides Escobar, Edwin Escobar, Kelvim Escobar, and Maikel García.
Acuña married Maria Laborde on August 31, 2023. They had known each other for four years and announced their engagement in January 2023. The couple have two sons.