Skip to main content
Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

This story is free to read.

Braves will enter spring training next week with questions in the outfield, at third base

AP photo by John Bazemore / A ball hit for a double by the Toronto Blue Jays' Teoscar Hernandez gets past Atlanta Braves center fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. on Sept. 3, 2019, in Atlanta. Acuna hopes to help this year's Braves end the franchise's long run without a postseason series victory.
AP photo by John Bazemore / A ball hit for a double by the Toronto Blue Jays' Teoscar Hernandez gets past Atlanta Braves center fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. on Sept. 3, 2019, in Atlanta. Acuna hopes to help this year's Braves end the franchise's long run without a postseason series victory. AP photo by John Bazemore / A ball hit for a double by the Toronto Blue Jays' Teoscar Hernandez gets past Atlanta Braves center fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. on Sept. 3, 2019, in Atlanta. Acuna hopes to help this year's Braves end the franchise's long run without a postseason series victory.

By CHARLES ODUM / The Associated Press 4 min read

ATLANTA – Ronald Acuña Jr. said he isn’t motivated by another try for a rare 40-40 season.

The bigger goal is to give the Atlanta Braves their first postseason series win in almost 20 years.

Acuña, who turned 22 in December, hit 41 home runs and stole 37 bases last season. He sat out the last week of the regular season with a hip injury that ended his 40-40 hopes.

“I feel like there’s always time for that,” Acuña, who is from Venezuela, said through a translator last month.

The Braves swept the Houston Astros in a National League Division Series in 2001 before falling 4-1 in the NL Championship Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who went on to beat the New York Yankees in a World Series that went seven games. Atlanta lost in the NLDS the next four seasons as it completed a run of 14 straight division titles, and five more postseason appearances since then have also been fruitless.