Inside Ronald Acuna Jr.'s return to MVP form - ESPN

MARIETTA, Ga. -- The living room of Ronald Acuña Jr.'s two-story, craftsman-style home looks more like a sports memorabilia store, replete with mementos from a career that blossomed earlier than most. All-MLB plaques and commemorative baseballs dot two sets of bookcases on each side of a white fireplace. A signed lineup card from last year's All-Star Game in Los Angeles sits on one, a Team Venezuela batting helmet from this year's World Baseball Classic rests on the other. In the middle, an oversized picture of a smiling, 20-year-old, tuxedoed Acuña posing with the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year Award overlooks it all.

Acuña, now 25, takes no credit for the arrangement.

«That was my mom,» he says in Spanish. «She's the one who decorates.»

It's an overcast, muggy afternoon on May 18, a Thursday off-day that doesn't quite feel like one because Acuña and his Atlanta Braves teammates didn't touch down from Texas until 3 a.m. The past four games of that road trip saw Acuña unleash four home runs that averaged 440 feet. A little more than a quarter of the season has transpired at this point, and Acuña stands on pace to surpass 40 home runs, 60 stolen bases, 100 RBIs and 150 runs, a combination of numbers that have never been reached.

Acuña, wearing tight-fitting black pants with blue-and-white bands that resemble streaks of lightning and high-top sneakers that were clearly designed to match, smiles at the thought of what 2023 is becoming.

Acuña looks like the most exhilarating, dynamic baseball player in the world again, a sentiment that extends beyond his numbers (a .332/.419/.577 slash line, 11 homers, 22 steals and 2.6 FanGraphs wins above replacement, tops among position players). He's wreaking havoc on the