Shohei Ohtani was petting a puppy when he found out he won the American League MVP award.
Ronald Acuña Jr. celebrated his National League MVP honors in a different way on the field.
The Braves star won his award and later appeared in a Venezuelan Winter League game an hour after winning the award, crushing a home run in an 11-4 win over Tiburones de La Guaira.
Acuña was making his season debut for Tiburones de La Guaira on Thursday night, and the match was pushed back an hour to accommodate the announcement.
“I don’t know what to say — just super excited, happy,” Acuña said in Spanish during his appearance on MLB Network after his NL MVP award was announced. “I hope that, by the grace of God, I can have an even better year next year than the one I just had.”
Acuña became the first Latin player to participate in the winter baseball league in his home country after winning the MVP award since Vladimir Guerrero Sr. played in the Dominican League for the 2004–05 season.
Guerrero won the AL MVP in 2004 as a member of the Angels.
Acuña had a historic year, hitting 41 home runs and recording an NL-leading 73 stolen bases to become the first member of the 40-70 club.
His on-base percentage (.416), OPS (1.012), hits (217), and runs scored (149) were all best in the NL.
Ronald Acuna played in the Venezuelan Winter League right after winning the NL MVP award. Screenshot Ronald Acuna played in the Venezuelan Winter League right after winning the NL MVP award. AFP via Getty Images
Naturally, after Acuña earned MLB honors, he came out and showed why he quickly became a baseball star.
The 25-year-old recorded two hits, including a long ball, in his debut Thursday.
Acuña is playing in the Venezuelan Winter League for the second straight year and hopes he can use it once again to propel him to another good season for the Braves, who made a trade to add a reliever Thursday night.
Ronald Acuna scored Thursday in the Venezuelan championship. Screenshot
“There’s always time to learn, there’s always time to improve, and that’s one of the reasons I’m here, to get better every day – as a person, as a football player. baseball – and have a great year. [upcoming] season, God willing, [just] like this one,” Acuña said in an interview posted on the Tiburones account on X, according to MLB.com.
“As I said before, with more time on the field, I think a baseball player can develop his abilities and get better results, improve his style of play,” Acuña added.
“I think that was the case for me this year.”
2023-11-17 06:41:10
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