Gwinnett Stripers Fishing Report: The Ascent of Acuña

At age 19, Acuna combined to bat .325 with 21 home runs, 82 RBIs and 44 stolen bases in 139 games, leading Minor League Baseball in hits with 181. Those statistics would be head-turning at any one level of professional baseball, but Acuña compiled them across three, pulling off the rare feat of advancing from Class-A to Triple-A in a single season.

"I never thought that all this would happen as quickly as it has," said the Venezuela native Acuna through Braves team interpreter Franco Garcia in early March. "I was kind of taken by surprise by (last season). I always believed and expected that I'd be able to make it and get to where I am, but I never thought it would come this quickly."

Acuna's year of surpassing expectations began in unspectacular fashion, as he opened with Advanced-A Florida and batted .287 with three homers, 19 RBIs and 14 steals in 28 games. Prior to an eight-hit barrage over his last four games with the Fire Frogs, he had been hitting just .260.

"I think I just didn't get off to a good start, so that was kind of a challenge for me," recalled Acuña. "I started focusing on getting into my rhythm and going through my routine. Luckily, that eventually fell into place and I just kept adapting and developing."

Acuna flourished with an early-May promotion to Double-A Mississippi. Showing immediate comfort at a new level, he went 6-for-8 with two homers and four RBIs over his first two games and was batting .415 with a 1.102 OPS as of May 31. He went on to hit .326 with 24 extra-base hits, 30 RBIs and 19 steals in 57 games with the M-Braves, earning Southern League Midseason All-Star honors.

Four days after starting in center field for the World Team in the prestigious MLB All-Star Futures Game on July 9, Acuna was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett. His introduction to the International League on July 13 proved to be a memorable one.

Leading off and playing right field for Gwinnett in Charlotte, Acuña went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs in a 13-4 rout of the Knights. In his second career Triple-A at-bat, he muscled a 1-0 pitch from Tyler Danish out to right field for an impressive opposite-field solo homer.

"It was hard keeping my emotions in check," said Acuna about his Triple-A debut. "I remember my first at-bat, I struck out. Luckily after that, I was able to calm myself down and get back in my rhythm … and was able to collect those hits. It was a great experience; I was extremely excited and my emotions were at a high."

Despite being the youngest player in Triple-A, Acuna was nothing short of dominant in 54 games with Gwinnett. His .344 average was third-best in the International League from July 13 through the end of the season, and he led the circuit in runs (38), hits (76), extra-base hits (25, including nine homers), total bases (121) and slugging percentage (.548) in that same span.

As Acuna's numbers showed, facing experienced Triple-A pitchers - some more than 10 years his senior - never fazed him.

"The International League, it's basically a veteran league," said Acuna. "You have a lot of guys there who know what they're doing, so for that, I really didn't try to change my approach. I knew what I was capable of and I tried to focus on that, my strengths and the things I could do. Having confidence in myself, believing in myself and knowing what I could do, my approach was just to play within myself and try to focus on the things that I could control."

Fourteen-year veteran infielder Sean Kazmar Jr., a staple of Gwinnett's roster for the last five seasons, had high praise for his 2017 teammate.

"At the end of the year, I think it was like the third-to-last game, he'd convinced me that he's the best I've seen in-person that I've played with continually on a daily basis," said Kazmar about Acuna. "He's exciting to watch, he's got all the talent in the world, and he plays hard. I'm excited to see what the future brings for him. He's a great ballplayer."

Following the regular season, Acuña's vast credentials continued to expand as he was named Minor League Player of the Year by both Baseball America and USA Today, Hitter of the Year by MLBPipeline.com, and Atlanta Braves Minor League Player of the Year. He was also selected to play in the Arizona Fall League, a showcase for young and rising Major League prospects.

Unsurprisingly, Acuna took the AFL by storm as well, batting .325 with a league-high seven homers, 16 RBIs and a 1.053 OPS in 23 games to earn the league's Most Valuable Player award. The youngest MVP in AFL history, he also guided the Peoria Javelinas to the league championship.

On the strength of last year's performances, the now 20-year-old Acuña enters the 2018 campaign ranked No. 2 on MLB.com's "Top 100 Prospects" list, a list he was not included on prior to 2017.

"I feel very grateful to be considered a highly-ranked prospect and I thank God for that opportunity," said Acuna. "When I first signed and came to professional baseball, I wasn't considered a prospect. I just approached the game with no pressure and … played my own game. Now that I am a high-ranked prospect, I'm just playing within myself and doing my thing. I don't feel the extra pressure or the extra attention has really affected me that much."

Nothing seemed to affect him negatively during Braves' Spring Training, where he proved just how close he was to Major League-ready by batting .432 with four homers, 11 RBIs, four stolen bases and a 1.247 OPS in 16 games. After going 0-for-7 in his first two games, Acuña went 19-for-37 (.514) over his final 14 games before being reassigned to Minor League camp on March 19.

Though he starts this season with Gwinnett, Acuna's once-in-a-generation ability could arrive in Atlanta as early as April. No matter where he plays, however, his focus will remain simple.

"I'm really just going to give it my best shot, give it my all, 100 percent effort, and hope to get the call to the big leagues soon," said Acuna. "God willing, whenever I do get (to Atlanta), my goals are to stay there and continue to give it my best."