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Well that was fun.
After a suffering a series sweep north of the border against Toronto, and enduring an overall losing streak of four games, the Braves offense returned in grand fashion with a good ole shellackin’ of the Rangers on Monday night.
There were many awesome moments, including Austin Riley getting in on the fun with his 7th home run this season. However, it was not hard to find the highlight of the night:
Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 454-ft HR came on a pitch 1.32 ft above the ground
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 16, 2023
that’s the 3rd-lowest pitch hit for a 450+ ft HR tracked by Statcast (2015), behind only:
9/10/18 Gary Sánchez: 1.19 ft (460 ft HR)
9/9/20 Ronald Acuña Jr. (!!): 1.31 ft (453 ft HR) pic.twitter.com/zNhu39GDbd
As the Sarah Langs points out (as she always wonderfully does), Acuna Jr. was able to do something quite rare at the plate. A true sign that Ronald Acuna Jr. is locked in is when he driving baseballs that low that far. And if there was any more reason to believe that Acuna Jr. right now is the MVP frontrunner, seven straight home runs of 430+ feet is pretty impressive.
Another huge development, as mentioned above, is the fact that Austin Riley was able to go deep for the seventh time this year. Even more important is the fact that it was to right center and that Riley was able to make hard contact all night long. While its only one night, it certainly could be the start of better times ahead for Austin Riley.
Braves News
- Jared Shuster will be called up to start Tuesday’s game for the Braves.
- Charlie Morton was quite impressive in a needed spot to succeed on Monday night. However, there may be a few concerns for Morton as the season progresses.
- With all of Acuna Jr’s majestic home runs recently, Kris Wills takes a look at the longest home runs in Truist Park history, a list that likely will need to be revised once again in the near future.
- The Braves made an interesting roster addition on Monday, claiming Dereck Rodriguez from the Twins minor league system. To make room, Kyle Wright was added to the 60-day IL.
MLB News
- Aaron Judge went deep twice against Toronto on Monday.
- Shohei Ohtani was incredible on a 4-for-5 night at the plate in Baltimore.
- The Giants placed Joc Pederson on 10-day injured list.
- The Pirates are starting extension discussions with Mitch Keller.
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