{"id":835061,"date":"2026-09-03T10:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T10:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/835061\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T10:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T10:50:11","slug":"ronald-acunas-200th-career-homer-is-more-than-a-milestone-its-proof-of-his-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/835061\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronald Acu\u00f1a\u2019s 200th career homer is more than a milestone. It\u2019s proof of his resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. was hardly the most heralded player in the Atlanta Braves\u2019 2014 international signing class. Five players received larger bonuses than the $100,000 the Braves gave Acu\u00f1a as a 16-year-old. Yet, as he took batting practice shortly after joining the organization in 2014, Acu\u00f1a offered a glimpse of what was to come.<\/p>\n

One of the stunned onlookers, Ozzie Albies, still remembers his disbelief as he watched a player who was one year younger than him launch baseballs into the stratosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018Wow, imagine just seeing that in the game against pitchers. This is going to be insane,\u2019\u201d Albies said recently of that long-ago batting practice. \u201cHe started doing it in the games. So since then, I was like, \u2018Wow, this guy\u2019s going to be special for sure.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Just how special? Since then, Acu\u00f1a has been named an All-Star five times and won an MVP award. Last season, he was the National League\u2019s comeback player of the year. On Wednesday at Nationals Park, he added yet another honor, becoming the 10th Braves player in the franchise\u2019s long history to hit 200 home runs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Acu\u00f1a hasn\u2019t looked much like himself at the plate this year, but the moment nevertheless stood out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how much I\u2019ve kept working to be here,\u201d Acu\u00f1a told reporters<\/a> after the Braves\u2019 9-0 win over the Washington Nationals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time you\u2019re first, or even top 50 on any list in this game, it\u2019s amazing when you think about the history of this game and the people who have played it,\u201d said manager Walt Weiss, whose team increased its division lead to four games heading into a four-game series against the second-place Philadelphia Phillies. \u201cWe know Ronald\u2019s talent. It\u2019s freakish talent. So he\u2019s capable of doing unbelievable things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acu\u00f1a had slightly above-average speed, a plus arm and average raw power with room to grow when the Braves signed him. His ascent, evaluators thought, would hinge on maintaining his speed, improving his contact skills and consistently tapping into his power. He\u2019s done the latter, as he demonstrated when he sent a high fastball from Nationals right-hander Max Kranick 379 feet over the left field wall. With that blast, Acu\u00f1a entered rarefied company, including the likes of Dale Murphy, Chipper Jones, Freddie Freeman and Hank Aaron.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certain guys that when they get going and they get hot, it\u2019s almost like there ought to be another league for them,\u201d said third baseman Austin Riley, who was drafted into the organization one year after Acu\u00f1a joined it. \u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Atlanta<\/p>\n

\n Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acu\u00f1a have shared a special bond for more than a decade. (Colin Hubbard \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

The 200th home run was just the latest reminder of Acu\u00f1a\u2019s prowess. He became the fastest player in MLB history to reach 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases, doing so in 904 career games. It took Alfonso Soriano 929 games to reach the milestone.<\/p>\n

If not for a pair of ACL tears that caused him to miss 185 regular-season games plus 18 postseason matchups between his extended absences, there is a chance Acu\u00f1a may have reached the milestone sooner.<\/p>\n

The 2021 and 2024 injuries tested not only his body but his patience, confidence and resilience. How he rebounded from hurting his knee again in the 50th game of the follow-up to his MVP season, in particular, stood out to Albies throughout Acu\u00f1a\u2019s 2025 comeback.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people don\u2019t know how hard and frustrating those moments are,\u201d Albies said. \u201cAnd you have to be mentally strong. So for him to go through it, stay strong, come back and do what he\u2019s been doing \u2014 it\u2019s not just talent. It\u2019s also special he can battle adversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acu\u00f1a, limited by hamstring injuries to roughly 60 percent of the Braves\u2019 games this year, has performed below his career norms. He entered Wednesday batting .238 with a .746 OPS. The home run was only his 14th of the season. One year after hitting 21 with a 161 OPS+ in 96 games, Acu\u00f1a entered the 9-0 win on pace to finish 2026 with 16 homers in 100 games.<\/p>\n

Even through difficult moments, Acu\u00f1a has continued to play with the same freedom, passion and joy that teammates associate with him. That spirit has become part of what makes Acu\u00f1a impactful beyond what he produces on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s having a ton of fun and is one of those tone setters,\u201d Riley said. \u201cWhen we\u2019re having a lot of fun, a lot of energy is out there. When things start to flow, I think that attributes to his love for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. was hardly the most heralded player in the Atlanta Braves\u2019 2014 international signing class. Five…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2111,363,99],"class_list":["post-835061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}