Ronald Acuña Jr. is giving the Braves exactly what they need at the perfect time, and one Hall of Famer has already noticed.
With the MLB postseason set to begin Sept. 29, Atlanta is positioned to win its division and lock up the National League’s No. 3 seed.
If the Braves can make a late push to No. 2, they’d skip the Wild Card round altogether. That would require shaving three and a half games off the Los Angeles Dodgers over the next week and change.
If they remain in the No. 3 spot, they’d host the No. 6 seed in a best-of-three series. Atlanta is also sitting five and a half games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East, a club it could face in that same best-of-three format in two weeks.
Acuña has been doing his part to make sure Atlanta is in the best possible shape for October. Over his last 18 games, he has hit .366/.418/.648 with 10 extra-base hits and 14 RBIs. The Braves star missed time earlier this season because of a pair of hamstring injuries, but he has been healthy since returning for his first game back on July 27.
That recent surge caught the attention of Pedro Martínez, who weighed in on X Tuesday night with a warning for any team thinking about how to attack Acuña.
Acuña is a difference maker in every way, so you have to be careful with a player as good as he is.
- Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) September 16, 2026
Getting that kind of praise from one of the game’s all-time great pitchers says plenty about the kind of impact Acuña can have when he’s right. Injuries have caused a lot of fans to lose sight of just how dangerous he is.
The 28-year-old right fielder is on pace to appear in about 110 games this season, topping each of his previous two years. In 99 games, he’s hitting .254/.346/.447 with a .793 OPS, 18 home runs and 49 RBIs. He’s also 20-for-28 on stolen base attempts and remains a force with his arm in right field.
If Acuña keeps swinging like this into the postseason, Atlanta won’t just be dangerous. It’ll be a legitimate World Series threat.
In Other News...
Braves Have A Fast-Rising Prospect Fans Need To Start Watching
Canadian baseball has produced plenty of big-league names over the years, from Hall of Famers like Fergie Jenkins and Larry Walker to current stars such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and the next wave is starting to take shape. In the latest look at the best prospects from north of the border, the attention lands on Eric Hartman, whose breakout 2026 minor league season has pushed him to the top of the list and given evaluators a new name to track closely.
For Braves fans, Hartman is the kind of prospect worth filing away now rather than later. The ranking puts him ahead of a broader group of top 10 Canadian hopefuls spread across the majors farm systems, and that kind of placement usually signals both performance and projection are starting to line up. The only question now is how quickly the rest of the industry starts treating him like more than a fast-rising name on a prospect list. [Read more 🡒]
Austin Riley Is Representing The Braves For Something Bigger Than Baseball
Austin Riley is being recognized for more than what he does at third base. The Braves named him their 2026 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, an honor that goes to players whose impact reaches well beyond the field and into the community. Riley has built a steady reputation for that kind of work in Atlanta, especially through Operation Home Team, the clubs program that honors military veterans during home games.
Riley and his wife have also been active in supporting military families and veterans through a range of initiatives, including a Military Appreciation lunch and a charity golf tournament that benefited veterans. For a Braves team that has watched Riley grow into a central figure on the roster, the nomination is another reminder that his presence in the organization extends far past game night. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Bullpen Just Got A Joe Jimnez Twist Fans Did Not Expect
Joe Jimnezs path back to a major league mound has taken another step, and it is the kind the Braves have been waiting on for a long time. After dealing with cartilage damage and then going through three knee surgeries, the reliever has not pitched in nearly two years, leaving his status one of the more difficult injury stories on the roster to track.
Now, Atlanta has sent him out on a rehab assignment with the Stripers, which at least puts a return back into the conversation. Given how complicated the recovery has been and how unusual his timeline looks compared with other pitchers who have dealt with similar knee issues, any late-2026 comeback would be the kind of development that still feels very much in progress. [Read more 🡒]