As Ronald Acuña Jr. was busy strengthening his National League MVP case Monday night against the Colorado Rockies, a couple fans at Coors Field had a separate thought running through their minds.
The fans, clearly enamored by the Atlanta Braves outfielder, stormed the field in search of Acuña in right field. As both converged on the 25-year-old, Coors Field security took — or rather tried to take action. As one fan was being detained after bare-hugging Acuña, the other penetrated through security to tackle him to the ground.
Acuña appeared to be unbothered by the incident, laughing it off with his Braves teammates before play resumed. One thing is for certain, however, and that is that both fans will likely never see the inside of an MLB ballpark ever again — and for good reason.
Prior to the incident, Acuña was once again putting on an MVP-like display, as he’s done the entire season for the MLB-best Braves. In the top half of the fifth inning, Acuña hit an opposite field, two-run blast off Rockies RHP Karl Kauffmann. The home run, which gave Atlanta a 4-2 lead, was Acuña’s 29th of the season, good for 11th in MLB.
Ronald Acuña Jr. chasing MLB history
Later on in the top of the seventh inning, Acuña swiped his MLB-leading 60th bag of the season. With one more home run, Acuña will become the first player in MLB history to hit 30 home runs and steal 60 bases in a single season. With just over a month remaining in the season, Acuña has a realistic shot at being a 40-70 player, which would all but guarantee him taking home the National League MVP Award, if he hasn’t wrapped it up already. In addition to his home run-stolen base prowess, Acuña entered Monday’s contest slashing .330/.413/.562.
Acuña’s 2023 campaign has truly been a reminder of how special he is after a torn ACL in 2021 robbed him of his ability to perform at the highest level upon his return in 2022.
“I’m happy and grateful to God,” Acuña said earlier this month, via MLB.com. “I really went through a difficult time. I think last year was one of the hardest moments for me, dealing with the knee, because sometimes I would wake up fine, sometimes I would wake up in pain. But this year I’m healthy, thank God.”
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