Fangraphs: Ronald Acuña, Perpetually Greenlit

Freshmaker

Freshmaker

Arbitration Eligible
Loved this article on RAJ. Here's a snippet. Man am I glad he's on our team

Ronald Acuña Jr. unlocked a new offensive gear this year. He already had speed and power — he was only three stolen bases short of a 40/40 season in 2019, his first full season in the majors. That wasn’t an option this year, what with a 60-game slate, but what he did do is even more impressive: he started walking.

Acuña’s 18.8% walk rate was the fourth-highest in the major leagues. He drew walks at a higher rate than Carlos Santana, Joey Votto, and Mike Trout. This wasn’t some intentional walk mirage, either; it’s not often a great idea to walk the man batting in front of Freddie Freeman, and Acuña drew only two freebies all year. Instead, he came by it the regular way: he’s such a fearsome hitter that pitchers avoided the strike zone, and he started laying off more pitches that missed their mark.

That’s easier said than done — otherwise every hitter would be doing it. Acuña managed it, though. He didn’t do it magically; rather, he cut back on his swing rate everywhere. He swung less at pitches over the heart of the plate, and thinking “swing less often” let him cut back in every other region:
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THE VENEZUELAN TROUT!

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¡Ronald Acuña es una superestrella! ¡Solo un joven de la sabana!
 
Tapate50 said:
I’d love to see Ronald green light some damage this series the way we know he can
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Hopefully last night gets him going some.

Still, an 810 OPS so far in the playoffs. What's nice is it hasn't really been just one guy carrying the team offensively so far. Players up and down the lineup have gotten big hits.
 
thewupk said:
Hopefully last night gets him going some.

Still, an 810 OPS so far in the playoffs. What's nice is it hasn't really been just one guy carrying the team offensively so far. Players up and down the lineup have gotten big hits.
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His power isn’t where it was earlier in the year and the only explanation is the wrist.

Those legs still work fine though. He’s been a beast on the base paths.
 
chop2chip said:
His power isn’t where it was earlier in the year and the only explanation is the wrist.

Those legs still work fine though. He’s been a beast on the base paths.
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It may be aggravated after last night but he's hit some balls very hard in the playoffs so I think his wrist was fine.
 
Buck called Ronald an aggressive hitter last night, but that's pretty clearly not true. he's aggressive early in counts, especially early in games, but he often relaxes hard after his first pitch swings. i think being aggressive when he is is pretty smart: he knows pitchers are looking to get strikes over early (..especially early in games), and he tries to jump on it. but his also takes a lot of pitches, as this article points out.
 
Super said:
Buck called Ronald an aggressive hitter last night, but that's pretty clearly not true. he's aggressive early in counts, especially early in games, but he often relaxes hard after his first pitch swings. i think being aggressive when he is is pretty smart: he knows pitchers are looking to get strikes over early (..especially early in games), and he tries to jump on it. but his also takes a lot of pitches, as this article points out.
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He had one of the best walk-rates in the league in 2020, but I’d be surprised if Joe Buck knew that. He’s had yuge, clutch walks multiple times this postseason.

The aggressiveness is selective, as you say (and as teased out in that recent fangraphs article).
 
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