Atlanta star Ronald Acuña Jr. ties 50-year-old Braves record from leadoff spot
At just 22 years of age, Atlanta slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. has already powered his way into the Braves’ record book.
After missing a three-game series in Boston this week with right hamstring issues, Acuña returned to the top of the Braves lineup Friday against Washington and promptly hit his 17th career leadoff home run.
The homer off Nationals starter Austin Voth in the bottom of the first tied a franchise record set by Felipe Alou, who served as the Braves' leadoff hitter from 1964-69, according to MLB.com.
Incredibly, it only took Acuña, the 2018 NL Rookie of the Year, 209 games to match the feat. Alou, by contrast, batted leadoff 633 times for the Braves.
Acuña added another home run in the fourth inning against Voth to record his fifth career multihomer game, helping the Braves beat the Nationals 7-1 in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
Acuña, in just his third major league season, actually opened last season in the cleanup spot for Atlanta. When Braves manager Brian Snitker was made aware of his star tying a 50-year-old record for leadoff home runs, he poked fun at himself for his decision to bat Acuña fourth for the first six weeks of 2019.
“He’s done a great job up there,” Snitker said. “Some [dummy] kept him out of the leadoff role last year.”
Acuña added a home run in the second inning of Game 2 of the doubleheader to give him eight for the year, but the Nationals hung on for a 10-9 win.