The Ronald Acuna Jr headlines praising him for refusing to miss a playoff game make me sick
Ronald Acuna Jr got hit in the forearm by Zack Wheeler in the sixth inning of NLDS Game 2 last night in Atlanta.
Ronald Acuna Jr Hit by Pitch
With two outs in the inning and Wheeler on complete cruise control, the Phillies’ ace tried to jam Acuña on the inside part of the plate but ended up hitting him in the elbow putting a runner of a first base.
That however, didn’t happen until Acuna completely halted all of Wheelers momentum, by making a spectacle out of it, falling into tears just outside the batters box for what felt like 15 minutes.
To Be Clear: I’m VERY HAPPY that Acuna was able to stay in the game. I’m not a total sicko and I always want to play against one of the best players in all of baseball. Before everyone starts yelling at me, players getting hit by pitches is always scary. We watched Bryce Harper and Jean Segura go down for months this season and I wish that on nobody.
Anyways while Acuna was being treated by the entire Braves medical staff, the majority of Twitter erupted praying that Acuna was going to survive being hit in the forearm.
On the other side, anyone with half of a brain knew exactly what was happening on our televisions and thought the whole dramatic display from the Braves star was absolutely disgusting.
There’s no crying in baseball.
The MLB on FOX Twitter account couldn’t get enough of it. They acted like Acuna was a hero for finally getting his ass up off the ground and walking down to first base. It was apparently a postseason miracle that Acuna was able to survive.
The New York Mets set a MLB record with 106 batters hit by pitches during the 2022 regular season. As for Acuna, he was hit by a pitch 11 times during the regular season. Baseball players get hit a lot. It happens. Everyone relax.
The entire scene last night was nothing more than a dramatic and honestly, smart way in slowing down the Zack Wheeler’s momentum on the mound. You really can’t tell me any different.
I don’t even believe what Wheeler said last night either. Hitting Acuna and then having to wait for him to get to first base definitely changed things on the mound for the Phillies.
Sure, the Acuna pitch didn’t lose the Phillies the game. The events that followed did and yes, the majority of the blame falls on Rhys Hoskins.
Everything started to unravel for the Phillies and Wheeler during the Ronald Acuña at-bat still, with 2-outs. Wheeler tried to jam Acuña on the inside part of the plate but ended up hitting him in the elbow putting a runner of a first base.
After granting a rare walk to Dansby Swanson in the next at-bat, Matt Olson hit that ball to Rhys Hoskins, which again, he should have caught and ended the inning but instead, it allowed the Braves to take a 1-0 lead.
Austin Riley then made it 2-0 on an infield single that forced Wheeler to field the ball while falling toward third base and ended without the pitcher attempting a throw. Known Phillies killer Travis d’Arnaud hit a RBI single in the next at-bat to push the Braves lead to 3-0.
That was all she wrote for the Phillies in Game 2.
Back to Acuna…
What made the situation more infuriating, is the fact that FOX then interviewed Acuna after the game and this guy had the nerve to come out and say the following:
“I already missed one postseason, I’m not going to miss another one.”
Yeah okay man. Quit acting like you were shot or got plunked in the face and stayed in the game. I’m no doctor but getting hit in the forearm isn’t exactly heroic. I’m sure it hurt but let’s all pump the brakes on the heroism. I can already see FOX foaming at the mouth looking to use this as a new postseason storyline.
National media outlets have already started.
Unfortunately for FOX and Acuna, that won’t happen. The Phillies will be hosting a playoff baseball game for the first time in 11 years tomorrow at Citizens Bank Park. Aaron Nola is on the mound with a brand new three game series in which the Fightins have home field advantage.
Lets get a win and we’ll worry about Saturday on Saturday.
RING IT.
