Ronald Acuña Jr. is good at baseball.
Now, that probably won't surprise many people, but coming off a terrible knee injury in July of last year he hasn't seemed to have lost a step. In fact, he has seemingly found a way to come back a better player. At least that is according to Atlanta Braves beat report Justin Toscano, who joined Nick Kayal on Saturday afternoon to discuss the 24-year-old phenom.
"His at-bats are back and his timing is certainly coming back," Toscano said. "And I'm talking overall during spring training he looked great. He looked like Ronald Acuña during batting practice."
In the young season, Acuña is slashing a strong .283/.424/.453 with an .877 OPS and a pair of home runs. He's back to being that terrifying force that will intimidate pitchers across baseball. The numbers should only improve as he continues to get back in the rhythm of the season.
But that isn't what has been most intriguing this year.
"What's most impressive to me is that he might be faster than he was before," Toscano said.
That speed has showed up on the base paths in spades.
"That's something that changes games for a lineup that hasn't really been able to manufacture runs as much without him," Toscano said. "Now when you have a guy like that on base, it changes the way opposing pitchers and catchers do things. It changes the way the infield has to be."