Over the last couple of days, Ronald Acuña Jr. has seen the ball as well as anybody. The Atlanta Braves’ right fielder has homered in back-to-back games and has reached base six times. In Friday night’s win over the Cincinnati Reds, he smacked a lead-off home run off Chris Paddack to set the tone early. Good evening 😎 pic.twitter.com/VbDw6zR8bf— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 29, 2026For good measure, he's taking full advantage of the free passes. He stole two bases in the series finale against the Boston Red Sox to complement the grand slam. The Braves pounced the Red Sox, 10-2. His OPS has shot up from .695 to .744. The five-time All-Star has had his spurts this season, but he has yet to find any consistency. For example of the ups and downs, Acuña’s strong start to May, which picked up again for a few games after he returned from the injured list, was halted by a five-game stretch where he went 1-for-19. Granted, he had four walks, but it’s hard to get much done when you can muster a single to go along with them. He's not alone in the serious highs and the serious lows. But for him, this is a bit out of character. Last season, he returned from missing an entire year and immediately hit the ground running. His start was so strong that he won the fans over and was voted a starting outfielder in the All-Star Game despite not making his debut until late May. Surely, now that he's fully healthy, he could really turn up the dial. For what it's worth, it's now late May, and he's on a roll again. Time to run it back with an insane June? Let's see what the metrics say about his overall performance this seaosn and what it could mean for him going forward.Unsurprisingly, his metrics are down compared to last season. He was in the 92nd percentile or better in nearly every hitting metric in 2025. This year, only bat speed is in that range. His walk rate is in the 91st percentile at 14.5%. Overall, he hasn't been hitting the ball as hard. It's down from 52.5% in 2025 to 44.2% in 2026. His barrel rate has also dipped from 15.7% to 12.5% in that same span. A positive sign is that his pitch selection is better. While that walk rate of his is down a bit, his whiff rate and his strikeout rate are down as well. Compared to 2025, Acuña's whiff rate improved to 27.8% from 30.3%, and his strikeout rate is down to 21.8% from 24.8%. These are significant improvements. Much of it has just resulted in softer contact early on. Up until Thursday, he had two home runs all season. The fact that he's doubled that total in a hurry is where the promise lies that this improved discipline could go in tandem with his strong swing. The verdict is still very much out there, but after the last couple of games, it's worth taking a look at the metrics and getting an idea of where he stands. A perk compared to last season is that he's gotten the chance to play this whole time and make adjustments. Sign up for our Free Atlanta Braves Newsletter and follow us on Facebook for the latest news Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow