Monday, August 24

This edition of Mark Bowman's Braves Beat newsletter was written by Zach Sweet. 

MILWAUKEE -- Luis Lara thought he had a double.

Ronald Acuña Jr. had other ideas.

Lara shot a Chris Sale slider down the right-field line Friday afternoon and took off for second as the ball raced toward the corner. Acuña cut it off before it reached the wall, spun and unleashed a 92.3 mph throw that traveled on a line to Mauricio Dubón’s glove, erasing Lara as he tried to stretch the hit.

Then came the best part. Lara looked toward right field and smiled. Acuña smiled back.

For a moment, the 22-year-old Brewers rookie could only appreciate what had just happened. He had been thrown out trying to take an extra base by the player he grew up admiring.

“In the moment, the adrenaline of the game is going and really all I’m trying to do is find a way to get to second base,” Lara said through team translator Daniel de Mondesert. “But after, incredible. He definitely is my favorite player.”

At 28 years old, Acuña has already reached the stage of his career where the players who grew up watching him are beginning to share Major League fields with him.

Lara is one of them.

The two Venezuelan outfielders have exchanged direct messages for a couple of years, Acuña said, but this weekend offered an opportunity to catch up in person. Acuña said he was flattered to learn that he is Lara’s favorite player and loves getting opportunities to interact with the growing collection of young Venezuelan talent reaching the Majors.

That influence stretches beyond Venezuela, too.

Acuña has become one of baseball’s most recognizable players in part because there has always been something distinct about the way he plays. The arm sleeves. The chains. The emotion. The celebrations. The aggression on the bases. The confidence to attempt plays others might not.

And, of course, the talent to make all of it work.

Friday provided another example.

“I’m not surprised that he tried to stretch it into a double because, I mean, 99 times out of 100, that’s a double,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said.

That one other time out of 100? It happens when Acuña's manning right field.

“Acuña -- that’s probably the best outfield arm in the game,” Weiss said. “We’ve seen him do it several times. It’s not only the strength, but it’s the accuracy. I mean, it’s a phenomenal throw.”

For the Venezuelan players watching from the other dugout, there was some humor in the identity of Acuña’s latest victim.

“Part of me is happy that it happened to Lara, to Lara’s favorite player there, getting thrown out,” Brewers catcher William Contreras said through de Mondesert. “Now he knows a little more about who Acuña is.”

Contreras laughed, but his next thought spoke to something deeper.

“We are all teammates here through Venezuela,” Contreras said. “On the field we might be enemies, but off the field we’re family as Venezuelans.”

That connection has followed Acuña throughout his career. He arrived in the Majors in 2018 as a 20-year-old phenom from La Guaira, Venezuela, and quickly became one of the sport’s biggest stars.

Eight years later, he is no longer simply part of Venezuela’s next generation. He’s influencing the one behind him.

Brewers assistant coach Nestor Corredor saw it firsthand when Acuña and Lara caught up after Friday’s game. Asked about Lara looking up to Acuña, Corredor offered a simple response.

“Acuña is Lara’s favorite player,” Corredor said. “He’s everyone’s favorite.”

There might even be a little Acuña showing up in Lara’s game.

One inning after Acuña erased him at second Friday, Lara made a leaping grab at the center-field wall to rob Matt Olson of extra bases. On Saturday, he continued making impressive plays in the outfield, showing off the instincts and athleticism that have helped make him one of Milwaukee’s exciting young players.

Weiss stopped short of directly comparing the two, but came away impressed.

“He’s just a good-looking player,” Weiss said of Lara. “Really good jumps, really good routes, closes on the ball really well. … He’s got really good instincts out there.”

By Sunday, Acuña had an opportunity to see his influence on an even younger generation.

When the Braves arrived in Williamsport for the Little League Classic, Acuña was surrounded by Little Leaguers seeking autographs and a moment with one of the players they watch on television. He signed, talked and interacted with kids experiencing Major League stars up close.

Somewhere in that crowd could have been another Lara.

Because before Lara was a Major Leaguer trying to turn a single into a double against Acuña, he was a young Venezuelan baseball player watching him.

On Friday, he got thrown out by his favorite player.

All he could do was smile. That’s the Acuña effect.

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