Baseball fans were shocked as Philadelphia Phillies catcher JT Realmuto hit an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the third inning of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves. While many were impressed by Realmuto's feat, one that has been accomplished by just 18 men in playoff history, others were appalled at the effort displayed by superstar right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. during the play.
In fact, fans took to Twitter to roast Acuna immediately after the play.
Was Acuña taking a call? Yikes.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) October 15, 2022
Good question, Pete Abraham. What exactly was Ronald Acuna Jr. doing? Ordering a pizza? Or “just chilling”, as this fan suggested? It certainly didn't look like the Braves star was backing up centerfielder Michael Harris on the JT Realmuto ball, which caromed off the fence and rolled into right field territory.
As this Twitter user points out, Ronald Acuna Jr. doesn't start to move towards the ball to back up his Braves teammate until it has already hit off the left center fence. By that point, Realmuto is already headed for second with a full head of steam.
In other words, it was far too late for Ronald Acuna Jr. to even have a chance of affecting the play. And it did not go unnoticed by fans watching the National League Division Series. Could he have prevented the play from happening?
Probably not. But the effort- or lack thereof- in a do-or-die game does not look good. And it wasn't the only play where it looked like Acuna's effort wasn't there.
In the fourth inning, Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh lined a ball in between Ronald Acuna Jr. and Harris, with Acuna pulling up just before the ball landed.
Whether or not the Braves win the game, Acuna is going to have a lot of questions to answer.
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