Ronald Acuna represents Atlanta Braves well in thrilling Home Run Derby

The 2019 Home Run Derby last night was maybe the best ever. Let’s do a recap along with a recap of how Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna did as well.

The 2019 Home Run Derby was won by New York Mets rookie first baseman Pete Alonso. That was not a surprise as he was picked by many to win the entire thing (myself included). But Ronald Acuna Jr. represented the Atlanta Braves very well and put on a good showing by driving out to all parts of the field.

The story of the night was Vladimir Guerrero Jr, though, and the amazing power show he put on — and to a lesser degree Joc Pederson.

The swing off they produced that we will dive into a bit more in a bit was maybe the best few minutes of baseball you will ever see.

Let’s start at the top and go over the first round real quick though. The first matchup was Joc Pederson facing off against Houston Astros superstar Alex Bregman. Pederson started slow but ended up with 17 home runs and adding 4 more in the bonus time to top Bregman 21-16.

The next matchup was Vlad Jr going up against Matt Chapman, who was replacing Christian Yelich. Guerrero hit a total of 29 home runs, which was a new record for a round.

** An asterisk should be placed though because the rules have changed so much over the past few years in the derby**

Chapman could only get 13 home runs in his round and that was in part to his pitcher looking a little nervous. Oh, that pitcher was his father. Good story, though.

Then it was Atlanta Braves fan’s turn to see our own Ronald Acuna take on Josh Bell. Acuna started slow but was able to finish with a flurry tallying 25 home runs to easily defeat Bell and his 18.

Then hometown star Carlos Santana struggled with only 13 and was defeated by a tiny margin by Alonso who collected 14 long balls.

Then the fun started.

Going for 30, Vlad Jr had to settle for 29 again in round two. Everyone had counted Pederson out but he tied Vlad Jr sending us to a 1-minute session apiece.

Both players hit 8 and we ended up tied again.

Therefore, both players entered a swing off where both players get three swings. Vlad Jr went first hitting 1 shot, then Pederson followed up by hitting … one home run.

In the second swing off Vlad Jr was able to finally put away Joc by hitting two home runs to his one.

All the extra swings allowed Vlad Jr to set a new record in a round of 40!

This brought back up Acuna who hit a respectable 19 dingers but Pete Alonso squeaked by with 20 to eliminate Acuna who was visibly gassed by this point.

Speaking of gassed, Vlad Jr was gassed by his time to hit in the finals, but he still managed to hit 22. Alonso was just able to hit 23 and claim the crown of the 2019 MLB Home Run Derby champ.

More on Acuna though

No doubt the story was Vladimir Guerrero Jr Monday night, but people were amazed by Acuna as well. Some players like Alex Bregman were already calling him a superstar.

What was interesting about Acuna was the power he showed to all parts of the field. Ronald was ripping home runs to the opposite field and hitting the ball where it was pitched. He didn’t try to pull every single home run.

Acuna even mashed a couple to dead center for some mammoth shots.

Another thing that caught my eye that is hard to notice in a regular game, is how easy Acuna makes it look. He looked like he was barely swinging his bat last night and yet the ball was going 450-plus feet.

So while he didn’t win, I think Acuna proudly represented Atlanta Braves country and showed the world how good he is … if they didn’t already know?

The question to me is, will it be him or Austin Riley who will be asked to represent the Atlanta Braves in the 2021 MLB Home Run Derby? We have plenty of time to answer that question.

That’s our recap on the exciting 2019 MLB Home Run Derby. Let us know in the comments below of any other takeaways you might have from Monday night’s event.