Acuña Jr. plays with a ton of passion, but his home country might be more important.
Ronald Acuña Jr. has done a lot on a baseball field, from winning an MVP to helping the Atlanta Braves win the 2021 World Series while watching from the sideline after tearing his ACL.
But none of that compares to what he and Team Venezuela are doing right now in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
After Venezuela beat Italy 4-2 on Monday to punch their ticket to the WBC Final for the first time in tournament history, Acuña didn't hesitate when asked where the win ranks for him.
"This is No. 1 for me in my career," Acuña said. "I love Atlanta a lot, but before I played in Atlanta, I was born in Venezuela. Venezuela made Ronald Acuña Jr."
What Acuña Means to Atlanta
It is hard to overstate what Acuña has meant to the Braves since he debuted in 2018.
He won Rookie of the Year that season and then took home the NL MVP in 2023, when he became the first player in MLB history to hit 40 home runs and steal 70 bases in the same year.
In 2025, the Braves went through a tough season and finished 76-86 in the NL East, good for fourth place in the division.
Acuña missed the first chunk of the year after recovering from his second torn ACL but still put together a strong showing over 95 games, slashing .290/.417/.518 with 21 home runs and 42 RBI.
He looked like himself again, and that version of Acuña is one of the best players in all of baseball.
Venezuela's Historic Run
Venezuela came into the WBC as the fourth-best betting favorite, and nobody expected them to go on the kind of run they have put together.
They went 3-1 in pool play, then upset defending champion Japan 8-5 in the quarterfinals, a game where Acuña and Shohei Ohtani traded leadoff home runs in the first inning.
In the semifinal against Italy, Venezuela trailed 2-1 heading into the seventh before Acuña came through with a game-tying single that got the rally going and turned the entire game around.
Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez followed with back-to-back RBI singles to give Venezuela a lead they would not give up, and the final score was 4-2.
Through six games in the tournament, Acuña has been slashing .261/.414/.565 with two home runs, four RBI, 10 runs scored, six walks and two stolen bases.
What Comes Next
Venezuela now faces Team USA in the WBC Final on Tuesday night at loanDepot Park in Miami, and a win would give the country its first-ever championship in the tournament's 20-year history.
For Acuña, the stakes feel personal, and his emotions throughout this tournament have shown just how much it means to represent his home country on the biggest stage.
After the WBC wraps up, Acuña will head back to spring training with the Braves, who open the 2026 regular season on March 27 against the Kansas City Royals.
But for now, his focus is on bringing a title home to Venezuela.