Healthy Acuña to bring excitement to Classic

NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Ronald Acuña Jr. didn’t need an interpreter when asked if he feels a lot better this year than he did last year.

“A hundred percent,” Acuña said with a smile.

That was Acuña’s response even before he showed off his five-tool talents during Sunday’s 10-6 loss to the Yankees on Sunday afternoon at CoolToday Park. This was the last contest he and fellow outfielder Eddie Rosario will play for the Braves for at least the next week. Both will join their respective World Baseball Classic teams on Monday.

• Watch the World Baseball Classic live on FOX, FS1, FS2, FOX Deportes and Tubi

Acuña and his Team Venezuela teammates will spend the next few days at their training camp in West Palm Beach. Rosario and Team Puerto Rico will train in Fort Myers. Both countries are in Pool D, which begins play on Saturday at Miami’s loanDepot park. Other teams in this pool include the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Israel.

“Everybody I’ve talked to who has [participated] has had a ball,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “So I think it will be good for them to go hang out with the guys and be teammates with them. I think it will be fun.”

The top two teams from this pool will advance to the quarterfinals, which, like the semifinals and finals, will also be played in Miami. The combination of great talent and lively crowds should create a postseason-like atmosphere.

“It’s going to be a great experience,” Acuña said through an interpreter.

Fortunately, Acuña will enter this global stage having distanced himself from the frustration his surgically repaired right knee created last year. He spent that time dealing with the lingering effects of the torn right anterior cruciate ligament that cost him the second half of the 2021 season. But the first few weeks of Spring Training have given him reason to believe he has regained the power, speed and endurance he lacked last year.

Acuña raced to catch a ball in the right-center-field gap, recorded an infield single and stole second base all within the first inning of Sunday’s game. The 25-year-old outfielder added a double off Carlos Rodón in the third inning. He went 6-for-14 during five Grapefruit League games leading up to the WBC.

Most importantly, Acuña did all of this without displaying the limp that was often seen when he stepped awkwardly or simply battled fatigue after playing for an extended stretch last year.

Acuña will not have any restrictions during the WBC. The Braves are confident he is ready to play nine-plus innings in the field on consecutive days whenever necessary.

“He’s ready to go,” Snitker said. “We’ve had him here for three weeks. All of those guys came in a week early. They’ve played six innings [in Grapefruit League games], and we may get them up to seven innings before they leave here.”

In other words, the baseball world should be in for a treat when a healthy Acuña competes against the loaded Dominican Republic team that includes his good friend Juan Soto, or the Puerto Rican squad, which also features Francisco Lindor.

“I’m going to face and play against a lot of superstars,” Acuña said. “So, of course, I’m going to be ready for the season.”

If Acuña gets off to a good start to the regular season, he’s certainly capable of recording just the fifth 40-40 season in MLB history. He finished three stolen bases shy in 2019, when he tallied 41 homers and 37 steals. He was on pace to hit 44 homers and swipe 31 bags before suffering the season-ending knee injury in ‘21.

“I expect him to be better than the 2019 Ronald, when he went off,” Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies said. “I think he’s going to have a good year. Last year, he came back and he wasn’t playing at 100 percent. He feels better this year.”