3 Hours After Winning MVP, Ronald Acuna Jr. Was Clubbing Home Runs In The Venezuelan League

There's no such thing as a weak MVP season, but I do think it's fair to say that Ronald Acuña Jr's 2023 campaign will definitely have a star by it from now until the end of time. The guy led the league in 1 million different categories and became the first baseball player ever with 40 home runs and 70+ stolen bases. It was a year that also had a fair amount of "fuck you" energy to it. After having a disappointing year in 2022, coming off of a knee injury, Acuña bounced back with a transcendent campaign in 2023. Would he take time off? Not a chance.

Literally minutes after unanimously winning the National League MVP, Acuna ran onto the field to play a winter league game in the Venezuelan league. I know that league features other Major League players, but I feel like Acuna has to feel like a man amongst the boys out there, and he definitely played like it, clubbing a home run in the sixth inning. 

Baseball is such a hard fucking game. You can do everything right, but if you are 0.0001 second behind a pitch, it might be the difference between a home run and a pop-out. But there are some guys who have just mastered this game to a point where they can roll out of bed and hit 400-foot bombs to centerfield. Ronald Acuña Junior is definitely one of those guys. 

For a guy who just finished his age-25 season, it feels like Ronald Acuña Jr has done almost everything. There's one blight on his résumé: his team won a World Series without him in 2021. The 2023 Braves had one of the best teams I've ever seen, and they flamed out in the postseason, as did Acuna. I can't imagine he'll have a better individual campaign, but for somebody who's still so young, his trajectory is easily that of a first-ballot Hall of Famer. If he stays healthy, he'll be an all-timer.