Matt Horn: Ronald Acuna Jr. part of MLB's must-see, action never stops generation
Major League Baseball was just fine before Atlanta's Ronald Acuña Jr. joined the fold.
It didn't need rules changes, including a pitch timer. Add Acuña to less down time and less distance between bases, voila.
Acuña has 41 stolen bases, 54 RBI, 21 home runs and scored 78 runs in 85 games. He's the first player with at least 50 RBI, 40 steals and 20 home runs before the All-Star break.
He has 115 hits, 24 doubles, a .337 average and 1.014 on-base plus slugging percentage. He reaches base at a rate of .415, with 48 strikeouts and 43 walks. He's been caught stealing seven times.
Who knows which, if any, of these numbers are heavily influenced by new rules. It is certain that Acuña, plus the tweaks, equal nonstop action.
Acuña joins Shohei Ohtani among players you can't take your eyes off if you don't want to miss something. Tampa Bay's Wander Franco is another, with 92 hits, 47 runs scored, 43 RBI, 27 stolen bases, 21 doubles and 10 home runs.
He's batting .286 with an OPS of .813 and 47 strikeouts. He added four triples.
Elly DeLa Cruz, who helped Cincinnati win 12 straight games but has played in only 25, has 51 total bases, 32 hits, 23 runs, 13 RBI, six doubles, three home runs and two triples in an explosive display of rare speed and power.
He has 10 stolen bases, caught twice, with a .308 average and .838 OPS. Thirty-five strikeouts prove his human for now.
It's refreshing to see a baseball player touted for athletic prowess. Those type of athletes seem often to play other sports these days, and it's good for baseball when someone showcases those skills at the park.
A surge of exposure for someone doing things that excite and awe even other players for the degree of difficultly made to look ordinary. Teammates and opponents know it's extraordinary to steal 40 bases, hit 20 home runs and drive in 50 just past the midpoint of the season for games.
Yasiel Puig might have been the last player to capture imaginations on a national level because the highlight reel comprised breathtaking athletic wizardry.
MLB introduced larger bases and limited defensive shifts in the rules book. You can no longer deploy three defenders on one side of second base and you have to have your feet in the dirt.
That was my favorite before enacted. Positions could be called positions for a reason.
A 30-second timer between batters and 15 seconds between pitches seemed less appealing. Fans, however, love that about 30 minutes have been trimmed off the average game time.
The timer is 20 seconds with runners on base. A pitcher can throw to first base to keep a runner close twice each batter, but any subsequent attempt must result in an out or it's a balk.
The pitch timer still seems a bit troublesome for postseason baseball, when more pitches come under glaring pressure. Less time is good for the game's ability to grow and develop connections.
The bases were also enlarged, which seemed more like an effort to stimulate runners' confidence, not enough to dramatically alter success rates.
What it did was make stealing bases cool again. The success rate is high enough that managers no longer assume the worst, even in the age of analytics when that's not a good way to waste an out.
If you strike out, you might hit a home run or walk later. If you got thrown out stealing, you were doing it wrong.
Some teams are using the running game as a weapon again. Every team again seems to have a few players who run, rather than most having none.
Players like Acuña might be even more prone to going from first to third, or even home while running the bases. Overall, the potential for nonstop action when combined with Acuña leads to fun if you're watching.
One last thing that seems to come with the new rules and Acuñas of the world: Showmanship and excitement.
Rickey Henderson stole 130 bases in 1982, despite unlimited throws to first base, and headfirst slides to second and third base. People weren't ready for bat tosses, home run trot stutter steps and snap catches.
Acuña wears enough jewelry that weighs enough to possibly counteract extra base width and he does more than drop his bat to the side with flair. He'll keep running around until he scores, drive people in so they aren't in his way and flip his bat straight up if circumstances warrant.
Let the kids play. It's good for baseball, even if you liked it before.
mhorn@gannett.com
419-307-4892
Twitter: @MatthewHornNH
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Matt Horn: New rules combined with special baseball athletes good fit
