Ronald Acuna: Everyone Wants A Piece

Ronald Acuna is the latest and greatest of guys who have become the ire in every fantasy baseball owner’s eyes – in every draft this spring. Before Vlad Guerrero Jr., whose hype train will arrive in just a short while; there’s Acuna. And he’s absolutely ripping apart pitching in spring training.

He hit another bomb off some poor sap today. The tales of his 450-foot routine batting practice shots are reminiscent of the days when we heard Jason Heyward was breaking auto windows in the parking lot of the Braves’ complex back when he was a rookie.

Hey look, we love a young prospect as much as the next guy. Acuna is going to be good in a Justin Upton sort of way. But we’re pumping the breaks a bit. Guys have come on the horizon in recent years and done exceptionally well for themselves; dating back to the Correa/Seager debuts and even Bryce Harper and Yasiel Puig before them. It seems like every guy who comes up and gets his first full taste of the big leagues is good beyond his years. Last year it was Cody Bellinger, Rhys Hoskins, and Aaron Judge. Before that we had Gary Sanchez and his incredible power run that began his career.

But we don’t expect quite the same from Acuna. Granted, we haven’t had an extended look at him. We haven’t read up on his scouting profile. But for no other reason –  these prospects can’t just continue to arrive on the scene as rookies and continue to embarrass the opposition at this rate. Or can they?

We will probably be writing about Acuna plenty on this blog. But every once in a while a guy comes along and just produces at a ‘fine’ Andrew Benintendi clip. And there’s nothing wrong with it. Not every prospect can be a mega-star and future Hall of Famer. Right now, we’re still in a wait and see period on Acuna.