The new generation of stars in Major League Baseball is defined by a certain level of flair and excitement. The Braves have just that in their star, Ronald Acuña. He plays the game with joy, but for whatever reason, that seems to rub opponents the wrong way and he was plunked again this week. Tony Gwynn Jr. joined Dukes & Bell to discuss whether the Braves are doing enough to protect their star player.
After the superstar put a lightning bolt into baseball, flipped his bat, and pumped his fist during his third-inning at-bat against the Diamondbacks, he was met with a ball to his ribs on his next at-bat. To make matters more suspicious, the alleged retaliation came mere moments after the catcher, Daulton Varsho, approached the mound to speak with Castellanos.
In fact, it was the very next pitch that he took a 91-mile-per-hour ball to his back. Acuña took a few steps towards Castellanos, but was quickly met by Varsho and the home plate umpire.
Most notably though, there was no reaction from the Braves.
"There's going to be some type of retaliation. It may not come now and or the next inning, but baseball teams and players have long memories," Gwynn said. "Unlike other sports where within the rules there is recourse for those types of situations, but there isn't in baseball."
There's an expectation that players are going to get hit. That's just a part of the game, as Carl Dukes noted. These instances just continue to feel suspicious, and it doesn't feel like there has been enough of a reaction from the team in defense of Ronald Acuña.
"If one of your guys continues to get plunked and you continue to do nothing about it, eventually that is going to become a problem! It's probably going to be a problem with Acuña feeling like nobody's got his back," Gwynn said. "I have noticed there has not been a lot of 'get-back' for Acuña in any of these situations."
