As the Atlanta Braves’ offense continues to be consistently inconsistent in 2025 The Morning Shift earlier today debated whether or not it would be a good idea to move Ronald Acuña Jr. out of the leadoff spot and put him a little bit lower in the lineup to potentially get him more at-bats with runners in scoring position, and help the Braves score more runs.
After Mike Johnson suggested that it might be time to experiment with not having Ronald Acuña Jr. in the lead off spot, and having him lower in the lineup to give him more opportunities to hit with runners in scoring position Beau Morgan responded to Mike’s suggestion with an emphatic no, and then that led to Mike asking Beau what other solutions are out there.
“Then where are we at and what are we doing? Because there doesn’t seem to be a plan moving forward. You’re telling me we’re just plugging Jurickson Profar in and hoping that everybody just gets hot?” Mike said
Beau responded by explaining why he believes you can’t take Acuña Jr. out of the leadoff spot
“He’s a spark plug to start the game, with Ronald there he produces. You also want him getting the most at bats.” Beau said
Earlier in Ronald’s career the Brian Snitker and the Braves did briefly try Ronald in the three spot in the lineup, and while it was small sample size as Acuña Jr. was only in that spot for a week he was not as productive nor seemed as comfortable there as he was batting leadoff, so time will tell if the Braves get desperate enough to try that experiment again.
However, with Jurickson Profar eligible to return from his 80-game suspension on Wednesday Atlanta will probably move Profar around the lineup if need be before they even think about moving the 2023 MVP out of the leadoff spot.