Ronald Acuna went as the No. 1 overall pick in most fantasy drafts last spring and rewarded that faith by filling up box scores every time he stepped on the field. Not only did he join Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano as the fifth member of the 40-40 club, Acuna also established the 40-50 club, the 40-60 club and the 40-70 club. It was a historically-great individual season that culminated in a unanimous selection for National League MVP. Some amount of natural regression has to be expected in 2024, but there is no evidence suggesting what Acuna did last year was fluky. He ranked in the 100th percentile in xwOBA, xBA, xSLG and average exit velocity while appearing in 159 of a possible 162 regular-season games for the NL East champions. Maybe the steals won’t be fully repeatable — Acuna ranked in just the 65th percentile in sprint speed in 2023 — but he’s a smart baserunner with a perpetual green light under manager Brian Snitker. Entering his age-26 campaign, the superstar outfielder should again be first off the board in every standard league.
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Acuna went 0-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base in Tuesday’s 4-3 extra-inning loss to the Cubs. The steal was Acuna’s first since May 4, an unusually long drought without a theft for the speedy outfielder. He was caught on his only attempt over 12 games between steals. Acuna has struggled to get into a rhythm at the plate this season, slashing .247/.355/.351 with three home runs, 12 RBI, 36 runs scored and 15 steals over 203 plate appearances. Some regression from last year’s 41-homer, 73-steal campaign was to be expected in 2024, but Acuna’s career-low .706 OPS so far has been a brutal overcorrection.
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Acuna is out of the lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Cubs, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Acuna is on the bench for the series finale, but his absence doesn’t appear to be anything more than a much-needed maintenance day after he had started in right field in each of Atlanta’s first 39 games of the season. Adam Duvall will step in as the starting right fielder in place of Acuna, who is in the midst of a cool stretch at the plate with just four hits in 31 at-bats over his last eight starts.
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Acuna went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Friday’s win over the Mets. He took Jose Quintana deep in the third inning, part of a four-run frame for Atlanta. Acuna may be turning things around at the plate — after posting a 26.5 percent strikeout rate in April, he’s fanned just 19.4 percent of the time through the first seven games in May. He’s also batting .310 (9-for-29) to begin the month with two of his three homers on the season.
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Acuna went 3-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and a run scored in Saturday’s 11-2 loss to the Dodgers. Acuna led off the fourth inning with a single and swiped his 14th bag of the season before coming around to score Atlanta’s first run on a single from Austin Riley. The star outfielder would collect two more hits on the night, though his effort fell short as the Dodgers ran away with the win. Acuna has now tallied multiple hits in three straight games to open the month, though he’s still sitting on just two home runs for the season. He’s also scored at least one run in five of his last six games.
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Acuna went 1-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases Monday in a loss to the Mariners. Acuna’s wheels were key in the production of Atlanta’s only run, as the star outfielder began the seventh inning by reaching on an infield single, subsequently stole both second and third base, and came around to score on an Ozzie Albies double. Acuna also struck out three times in the contest, and he’s now fanned multiple times in three straight games, but fantasy managers are likely to mostly ignore that as long as he continues to run wild on the basepaths. Acuna began the campaign with just one steal through his first nine games, but he’s since racked up 12 steals over his subsequent 18 contests.
