Ronald Acuña Jr. homers as Braves rally past Phils

Acuña’s home run was his 17th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Phillies reliever Brooks Raley in the fourth inning. Acuña has four home runs in 11 games in September so far. He’s hitting .255 with a .797 OPS and 47 RBI this year.

Acuña knocked a base hit in the first inning, then provided the only run the team could score over six innings against Zack Wheeler, taking him deep for a solo homer in the third inning. It was a massive, 450-foot moonshot for his 15th of the season. The 28-year-old outfielder is hitting .251/.349/.432 with 51 runs scored, 41 RBI, and 20 steals across 392 plate appearances.

The homer was Acuña’s 200th, making him the 57th player in MLB history to hit 200 homers and steal 200 bases. He’s also the eighth active player to accomplish the feat. The steal was his 20th of the season, and only the fourth time in his career he’s reached that mark given how many injury-shortened campaigns he’s had. 2026 hasn’t been one of his better seasons, so it’ll be interesting to see where his ADP settles this offseason. Set to enter his age-29 season in 2027, Acuña still possesses plenty of high-end fantasy upside whenever he’s healthy.

Acuña’s RBI came in the third inning and put Atlanta up 2-0. The 28-year-old has had another injury-riddled season, limited to 84 games thus far. As he gets further removed from his historic 2023, that year’s strikeout rate looks more and more like a career outlier. Still, Acuña possesses as much upside as any hitter in fantasy if he can stay healthy for a full season. It has been nice to see him swipe 19 bases this year, though his efficiency hasn’t been great, as he’s been caught eight times.

Acuña had previously hit only first and second this season. Ozzie Albies, who is hitting .230/.286/.374 in 398 plate appearances since May 10, is batting second tonight.

The 28-year-old superstar has really struggled since his return from the injured list in late July, slashing a woeful .188/.248/.366 with six homers, 13 RBI, three swipes and a 33/8 K/BB ratio over 121 plate appearances. A day off to clear his head against Dodgers’ right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto isn’t the worst idea in the world. Mike Yastremzki will start in his place in right field and bat seventh for the Braves.

Acuña is still in a little 2-for-24 slump in his last six games, but some good news is that he’s starting to run again. He didn’t attempt a steal in his first 18 games back from his latest hamstring injury, but he’s 2-for-3 in his last eight games even while struggling to reach base. He’s stolen 17 bases in 79 games on the season.

Acuña’s home run was his 13th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Eduardo Rodriguez in the first inning. Acuña is 14-for-53 (.264) with five home runs and eight RBI in 13 games so far in August. He’s hitting .244 with a .791 OPS and 31 RBI.

Acuña cut into the Yankees’ lead in the eighth inning with a solo homer off Brent Headrick. It was his fifth home run in 12 games since returning from the injured list. The 28-year-old outfielder is up to 12 homers with 15 steals while hitting .247/.358/.444 across 288 plate appearances.

The 28-year-old superstar got the scoring started in the ballgame with a 390-foot (103.8-mph EV) two-run shot off of Janson Junk in the third inning that fell short of the outfield wall, but the Marlins’ outfielders collided and the ball got knocked out of the glove of Esteury Ruiz and bounced into the stands for a home run. He then cleared the fence with a 337-foot (97.3-mph EV) solo shot off of Cade Gibson in the eighth that made it a 9-2 ballgame. His bat appears to be heating up, which is terrifying news for the rest of the National League. On the season, he’s now slashing .244/.358/.436 to go with 11 homers, 27 RBI and 15 stolen bases (in 22 attempts) across 279 plate appearances.