Ronald Acuna Drama Ramps Up With Braves

Ronald Acuna Jr. did not appreciate how the Atlanta Braves and manager Brian Snitker handled the Jarred Kelenic situation. 

Kelenic launched a fly ball to deep right field recently, and assuming that it was a home run, didn't run hard out of the box. And as is so often the case, it turned an easy double into a close play, in this case, an out. Braves manager Brian Snitker defended Kelenic afterward; when asked if he'd spoken to him about it, he quipped, "Was I supposed to?" 

Acuna didn't like that response, posting on X that he'd have been benched if he'd done the same thing. And he might be right; he'd previously been benched for not running out a play in 2019, and has come in for criticism over a perceived lack of effort in the years since.

Sure enough, some takes within the sports media world have looked to up the drama, with The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal describing several incidents of Snitker disciplining other Braves players for similar lapses. And bringing up race in the process.

"All three of those players are Latin. Kelenic is White, as is Snitker, who is 69. Inevitably, some will view this matter solely through the lens of race. We can’t know for sure how much of a role that played. Within the game, Snitker is held in high esteem, in part because of his feel for players, as both Acuña and [Marcell] Ozuna can attest," Rosenthal wrote."

Or could it be, perhaps, that there's more going on behind the scenes than the most basic racially-based assumptions.

ATLANTA, GA - MAY 06: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Truist Park on May 6, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

Ronald Acuna Jr Has A Point…Maybe

Rosenthal is one of baseball's best reporters, and he's far from irresponsible or prone to hyperbole. But Rosenthal makes a mistake here by even bringing it up.

Acuna is one of baseball's best players, and it's nearly impossible to reach that level without an exceptional work ethic and tremendous effort. He also had the first ever 40-70 season in MLB history, not something that happens without a dedication to perfecting his abilities and baseball instincts. 

Yet even with that in mind, he has also demonstrated, at times, a perceived lack of effort in running out plays. Often enough for it to become part of a pattern. There's also no way to know what Acuna's effort or willingness to take accountability is behind closed doors. If Snitker handled him differently than he handled Kelenic, it could be because he knows more about how they are as people than fans and national sportswriters do.

Rosenthal even acknowledges this, "Though Snitker didn’t say it explicitly, some if not all of his previous benchings resulted from an accumulation of base running lapses. Of Kelenic, who joined the Braves last season, Snitker said, ‘I don’t look for him to not (run hard) because he plays with his hair on fire all the time.’"

Again, this is what we see publicly. And Kelenic immediately took accountability for his mistake, saying afterwards that he approached Snitker himself: "It’s my action, so I don’t need him to call me in."

"I gotta be on second base," Kelenic continued. "There’s no excuse for it."

Maybe that's the difference in a nutshell; that Kelenic immediately took accountability. You could make the case that Kelenic should have been disciplined in game. But isn't there at least a possibility that Snitker, knowing these two players extremely well, would handle them differently.

Or maybe he's a racist who somehow successfully managed a World Series winning team comprised of players from all different backgrounds and racial and ethnic groups. Seems likely.