Atlanta – The restored health of Ronald Acuña Jr. gives the Atlanta Braves reason for optimism despite again falling two games under .500 after losing two of three games to the San Diego Padres.

Acuña played all three games against the Padres and immediately flashed his all-around athleticism in his return after missing almost a full year following surgery on his left knee.

In Friday night's 2-1 loss, the 2023 NL MVP hit the first pitch he saw 467 feet for a home run. The homer's exit velocity of 115.5 mph was the hardest hit ball by a Braves player this season.

Acuña followed his dramatic first game back by hitting a 411-foot homer in Saturday's 7-1 win. He had a double and a walk in Sunday's 5-3 loss and was 4 for 12 in the three games.

The homers were impressive, but perhaps most important to the Braves was the display of Acuña's all-around skills. He threw out Elias Díaz at second base on Friday night and added a 104.9 mph throw to the plate on Sunday just as Manny Machado slid home safely.

“Absolutely insane. He’s a beast,” Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies said. “We all know he’s got a cannon, but that’s impressive.”

Acuña is making his second return from a major knee surgery. He tore his right ACL on July 10, 2021, and returned the following April. He was tentative at first in his 2022 comeback but looked far more confident against San Diego. He showed he could sprint to the right-field line to cut off hits before stopping quickly to make strong throws.

Acuña said he feels confident he's ready to flash his 2023 MVP skills.

“Yeah I think so,” Acuña said through interpreter Franco Garcia. “To me that’s just the culmination of all the work I put in throughout this whole time on my legs to be prepared for those moments, to be able to react and move the way I did in those moments and be confident in my legs and body.”

The Braves are off on Monday. Manager Brian Snitker plans to play Acuña in each of their three games at Philadelphia in a series that begins Tuesday night.

“It was awesome,” Snitker said when asked to describe Acuña's first three games. “I think really good. His at-bats have been really good. Obviously the fielding, everything. I think he feels good. I think it’s a good first series for him right there.”

Acuña's return was highly anticipated and helped the Braves draw sellout crowds in each game against San Diego, including 41,251 on Sunday.

“Incredible,” Acuña said of the support from the fans. “Incredible to be back in front of the fans and even more incredible to be back home in front of them.”

Albies said having Acuña as the leadoff hitter and right fielder is a good reason to expect better results for Atlanta.

“Oh, it’s amazing,” Albies said of Acuña’s impact. “He brings a lot of energy to the lineup. We all see it. The fans love it. It’s just great. When you see him going, the team goes with him. He gets something started when he’s up there.”

Not the friendly confines

The Athletics – formerly of Oakland but not yet of Las Vegas – have one of the worst home records in baseball.

Maybe it figures.

The A's are one of two big league teams playing in minor league ballparks this season, along with the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa Bay was forced out of Tropicana Field after damage caused by Hurricane Milton, so the Rays are playing home games at the Yankees’ spring training base in Tampa. The A's left Oakland and are spending at least three seasons at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento before moving to a planned ballpark in Las Vegas.

So far, these temporary venues don't seem to be helping in the win column. Tampa Bay has played far more games at home than on the road, but the Rays are 16-18 at home and 10-8 away. For the A's, the difference is even more jarring. They are 14-12 on the road but just 9-19 at home.

These are the only two teams in the major leagues that have a winning record on the road and a losing record at home.

After improving from 50-112 in 2023 to 69-93 last year, the A's were actually above .500 less than two weeks ago. Then they dropped 11 in a row, the last six of which were at home, before finally beating Philadelphia 5-4 on Sunday.

The Athletics have a winning percentage of .538 on the road and .321 at home. That difference of .217 is on pace to set a modern record. The previous mark was “achieved” in the strike-shortened season of 1994 by the Chicago Cubs, who were 29-25 (.537) on the road and just 20-39 (.339) at home.

The record for a full season was set back in 1908, when Pittsburgh was 56-21 (.727) on the road and 42-35 (.545) at home.

Ironically, if you take out the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Athletics already hold the modern record for the biggest home-road winning percentage difference in the other direction. In 1945, the Philadelphia A's went 39-35 (.527) at home but just 13-63 (.171) on the road for a split of .356.

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