Acuna says he’s not impatient, will be ready when call comes

Braves outfielder Cristian Pache (left) clowns with Ronald Acuna  (right) grabbing his hat before Tuesday night’s Braves vs. Future Stars exhibition game at SunTrust Park. (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Braves outfielder Cristian Pache (left) clowns with Ronald Acuna  (right) grabbing his hat before Tuesday night’s Braves vs. Future Stars exhibition game at SunTrust Park. (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)

Ronald Acuna would’ve preferred to play for the Braves instead of against them as a member of the “Future Stars” team in Tuesday night’s exhibition at SunTrust Park, but the 20-year-old phenom said all the right things and insisted that being reassigned to minor league camp March 19 wasn’t a setback or annoyance.

Consider it one more thing the five-tool prospect does well: He understands the business of baseball.

“I obviously wanted to start (in the majors) and keep my entire time with the big-league squad and be here with the team,” Acuna said through an interepeter in his first interview since he was sent down from major league camp. “When they told me, naturally I was a little bit disappointed, but that’s not going to deter me at all from my work ethic or stop me at all.

“I’m going to keep working hard, do everything I can, keep giving it my all and keep moving forward.”

Legendary former Braves manager Bobby Cox returned to uniform to manage the Future Stars team in Tuesday’s game and hit Acuna second, ahead of power-hitting prospects Austin Riley and Alex Jackson.

When a reporter feigned second-guessing the manager by asking him why he hit baseball’s consensus No. 1 prospect second, Cox didn’t miss a beat with his reply: “We couldn’t hit him 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9.”

But seriously, Cox said of Acuna, “He could hit anywhere. Doesn’t matter where he hits in the lineup. He’s a dynamic-type player. Five-tool guy. A little bit more seasoning down in Triple-A, get him off to a good start and hopefully he gets up here pretty soon.”

When asked how much Acuna reminds him of former Braves center fielder and slugger Andruw Jones, Cox said, “A lot. He’s got plate discipline. He did strike out some last year, but I’ve never seen him strikeout. I saw him strike out one time on a breaking ball on a 3-2 pitch, back-door breaking ball. But he makes contact, has a good eye at the plate.

“He’s got tremendous power into right-center as well as left. Can hit the ball out dead-center, right-center, left-center.”

At the time he was sent down, Acuna led the Grapefruit League and ranked second in the majors in average (.432), on-base percentage (.519), slugging percentage (.727) and OPS (1.247), and he led the Braves in home runs (four) and stolen bases (four) and was tied for the team lead in RBIs (11) and runs (eight).

Despite being their best player during spring training and having the left-field position waiting for him to take over after the Braves cleared Matt Kemp out of the picture this winter with that in mind, the decision to reassign him still didn’t surprise many in the baseball industry or others who understand how some of the sport’s economic rules operate.

Because even though the Braves and general manager Alex Anthopoulos insisted the move was for developmental reasons, to give Acuna a little more seasoning after rushing through three levels of the minor leagues in 2017, it’s widely believed it was done because the Braves could assure another full season of contractual control before free agency by keeping Acuna in the minors until at least April 14.

And most people will be surprised if he’s not up either that day or soon thereafter. Until then, he’ll play for the Triple-A Gwinnett Strypers, who start their season April 6.

“I’m not feeling impatient at all, to be honest,” said Acuna, who was to catch a charter flight with other prospects back to Braves minor league camp in Florida after Tuesday’s game. “It’s just not the right moment right now. It’s just part of the business. Baseball is a business and there’s a lot of things that go into these decisions.

“All I can do is go down to Gwinnett and give my best effort and hope to get the call as soon as possible.”

He should be good for business at Gwinnett, however briefly he’s there. Acuna finished his terrific 2017 season as the youngest player in Triple-A and hit .344 with 25 extra-base hits (nine homers) and a .940 OPS in 54 games for Gwinnett.

“I saw his father play when I was very young,” said Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte, a fellow Venezuelan. “I just try to keep him happy and comfortable. I don’t want to put a lot of stuff in his head. He’s really good and he knows that. He’s just waiting for his opportunity, not rushing anything. He’s going to get his chance soon. ...

“He’s very special. Hopefully he’s going to help us win a lot of games.”

Last season In 139 total games at three levels from high Single-A to Triple-A, Acuna hit a combined .325 with a .374 OBP, .522 slugging percentage, 60 extra-base hits (21 homers) and 44 stolen bases, earning Baseball America’s minor league Player of the Year award.

Then he went to the Arizona Fall League and became the youngest-ever MVP of that prospect league by hitting .325 with seven homers and a 1.053 OPS in 23 games.

On Tuesday night, before his first game at SunTrust Park, Acuna could barely restrain his enthusiasm about playing at the place he’ll soon call home and for the manager who guided the Braves during their glory years.

“There’s really no words to describe it,” Acuna said. “I’m so excited. I’m just ready to spring out onto the field and get started.”

He’s gone from playing in Single-A to being on the cusp of his major league career in 12 months, and the Braves have been encouraged and impressed by how well Acuna has handled all of the growing attention and expectations.

“I’m very fortunate in the sense that I’ve never really felt pressured or let the attention get to me or anything like that,” Acuna said. “To be honest, I get a lot of energy from seeing the fans and their support and everything. So that’s a big motivator for me as well.”

It’s not lost on him how rapidly he’s gone from relative obscurity to Next Big Thing.

“It’s amazing,” Acuna said. “I’m definitely not taking it for granted. I never imagined it would all happen this quickly. I always believed in myself, that I could become something and do something with myself as a baseball player. And I always had confidence in that. But I never though it would all happen this quickly. So I’m very excited.”

Inciarte said, “I talk to him a lot, and we try not to talk about what’s going to happen. He should just try to control what he can control, not thinking of when he’s going to get called up. Just keep doing his thing. He’s only 20 years old and he’s going to be here either sooner or later. For him it’s just to stay healthy and be here whenever the time tells him to be here.”