ATLANTA - The Braves are getting just enough from a lot of places right now, and that matters when Ronald Acuña Jr. is starting to look like Ronald Acuña Jr. again.
Atlanta rolled through a weekend sweep of the Colorado Rockies, then carried that momentum into Monday’s homestand finale against the San Francisco Giants. Acuña’s recent stretch has been one of the biggest reasons why. After a rough road trip that sent the Braves home from a 2-5 swing, the outfielder got a night off and then started flashing the kind of impact that changes a lineup.
Michael Harris II said the team can feel it when different pieces start clicking at the same time.
“That helps a lot,” Michael Harris II said. “I feel like there’s a lot of times where everybody on the team isn’t going to click, but when that happens, I feel like we’re going to be a really dangerous team, and it’s good to see (Kim and Sean Murphy) going too.”
The Braves’ position is already strong. They hold a five-game lead in the National League East and own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Dodgers, which would give them home-field advantage if the two clubs finish with the same record. Atlanta is 82-55, matching Los Angeles for the third-best record in the majors.
Acuña remains the spark plug, even though his overall numbers have not matched his usual standard. He entered this stretch with a .757 OPS and 13 home runs, and the issue has shown up most clearly against four-seam fastballs.
After hitting .269 and slugging .558 against those pitches last year, he is at .135 with a .192 slugging percentage this season. He has also had trouble doing damage in the middle and upper third of the zone, with 41 of his 74 hits on four-seamers coming down and away.
“Baseball is hard sometimes,” Acuña said. “You feel good sometimes, but you don’t have the results.”
Before manager Walt Weiss gave him Thursday off, Acuña was mired in a 4-for-37 stretch with 13 strikeouts. The reset seemed to help.
He followed the day off with a double Friday, driving a Tomoyuki Sugano fastball 108.3 mph for part of a three-hit night. Acuña said afterward, “Yeah, I’m feeling better.
I did a couple adjustments early hitting BP so I feel good,” Acuña said Friday. “A day off, sometimes it can help you.”
He kept it going from there. The next day he lined a single off the bat at 98.5 mph, then on Sunday singled in the 10th inning to set up Matt Olson’s walk-off hit. That was Atlanta’s seventh walk-off win of the season.
By the end of the Rockies series, Acuña had gone 6-for-9 with four walks, plus a handful of eye-catching defensive plays. One of them was a sliding catch that covered 114 feet of outfield grass.
The Braves have shown they can keep winning even when Acuña isn’t at peak form. But if he’s getting back there now, the ceiling rises again.
Atlanta’s late-inning picture has a different kind of storyline, and it runs through Didier Fuentes. The 21-year-old right-hander has become a trusted option in his first full major league season, posting a 1.88 ERA that ranks third among NL relievers with at least 40 appearances. The Braves are still hoping setup man Robert Suarez can return healthy in time for the postseason, but for now Fuentes is one of the arms they’re leaning on.
He hit a rough patch earlier this month, allowing two home runs in four appearances after giving up just one long ball before that. Braves pitching coach Jeremy Hefner viewed it as a chance for Fuentes to evolve.
The right-hander had been leaning heavily on a 97 mph fastball that works well from his low three-quarters slot, but hitters started catching up. Hefner wanted him to branch out.
“He has these other two really good pitches. Let’s just start throwing them more,” Hefner said.
Since Fuentes gave up a homer to Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas on Aug. 14, his splitter usage has nearly doubled to 10 percent. That pitch showed up in a big way Wednesday during the Braves’ 6-5 win over the Dodgers. With the bases loaded in the eighth and the game tied, Fuentes threw Max Muncy seven straight fastballs before finishing him with a splitter away for the strikeout.
The development matters beyond this season. Fuentes’ secondary pitches could factor into any decision about his role next year, and if they keep progressing, he could get another look as a starter.
“He’s got a great fastball, but major league hitters will time a bullet if they keep seeing it,” manager Walt Weiss said. “The slider’s gotten a lot better. Now you see him gaining more and more confidence in the split and throwing it in big spots.”
With roster expansion coming Tuesday, the Braves also have decisions to make on the 28-man group. Whoever gets the call will be postseason eligible, which raises the stakes.
James Karinchak is one option. The right-hander has bounced between Triple A and the majors and has allowed two earned runs in 9 2/3 innings while striking out eight. He can also handle multiple innings, which could help preserve the bullpen for October.
Ricky Vanasco is another possibility. Claimed off waivers from the Detroit Tigers and added to the 40-man roster last week, the 27-year-old posted a 2.53 ERA in 35 games for Triple-A Toledo and allowed 11 earned runs in five appearances for the Tigers.
Rowdy Tellez could give Atlanta another bat. He wouldn’t take Matt Olson’s job at first base, but he could offer a useful left-handed power option off the bench. In 87 games for Triple-A Gwinnett, Tellez has hit .260/.354/.464 with 15 home runs and 56 RBIs.
Patrick Clohisy is also in the mix. The left-handed hitter, a 2024 11th-round pick out of Saint Louis University, has hit .358 since moving up to Gwinnett on July 11. He has 59 stolen bases between Double A and Triple A, runs at an average sprint speed of 28 feet per second, and brings strong defense with plenty of range.
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