Ronald José Acuña Blanco Jr., a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Atlanta Braves, was born on December 18, 1997. Acuña signed as an international free agent with the Braves in 2014, and in 2018 he made his Major League debut, winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
Acuña has been a member of the MLB All-Star team four times since 2018, has taken home three Silver Slugger Awards, and has twice led the league in stolen bases. He achieved a number of firsts in the 2023 season, including becoming the first MLB player to complete a 40–70 season and becoming the sixth member of the 40–40 club. He also set a modern-era franchise record for stolen bases with 73. The National League Most Valuable Player title for 2023 went to Acuña.
In July 2014, Acuña signed a $100,000 contract as an international free agent with the Atlanta Braves. In 2015, he was promoted to the Danville Braves following his professional debut with the Gulf Coast Braves. Between the two clubs, he batted.269 in 55 games, driving in 18 runs, stealing 16 bases, and hitting four home runs.
Affected by an injury, he played in just 42 games overall in 2016[3], slashing.312/.392/.429 with four home runs and 19 RBIs between the Gulf Coast Braves and Rome Braves. He was an Australian Baseball League All-Star and played with the Melbourne Aces after the season. At the onset of the 2017 season, Acuña made his debut as an extra in Grapefruit League games.
Acuña was invited to join the Arizona Fall League and assigned to the Peoria Javelinas following the conclusion of the 2017 minor league regular season.[13] He was the AFL’s youngest most valuable player, having played in 23 games and hitting.325/.414/.639 with seven home runs. He also won the league championship and was named league MVP. Prior to the 2018 season, Acuña was ranked as the top Major League Baseball prospect by Baseball America.[15] Shohei Ohtani, a Japanese pitcher/hitter, was ranked #1 by MLB.com.[16] Acuña attended major league spring training to start the season.On March 19, 2018, Acuña was sent to minor league camp despite his spring training.432 average and four home runs.[18] When the 2018 season got underway, he reported to the Gwinnett Stripers.