MLB Analyst highlights the significance of a healthy Ronald Acuna Jr.: "He is the single most important player for the Atlanta Braves this season"

A healthy Ronald Acuna Jr. is crucial for the Atlanta Braves' hopes of contending this season, according to MLB Analyst Bo Porter.

"He is the single most important player for the Atlanta Braves this season," Porter said Monday on MLB Network.

The three-time National League All-Star outfielder told MLB Network in January of his confidence that he will no longer be affected by the lingering results of the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that was suffered during a game on July 10, 2021.

“I’m beyond excited and happy,” Acuña said at the time through an interpreter. “I think my face says it all. I feel like it’s been two years to this point since I felt completely healthy. So, I’m really excited.”

Acuna, still just 25 years old, still has only one fully-played MLB season under his belt, when he tallied 156 games in 2019. He finished fifth in the NL Most Valuable Player voting that season and won a Silver Slugger Award after hitting 41 home runs with a .280 batting average and scoring 127 runs with 101 RBIs. He led the NL with 37 stolen bases, falling just three steals short of joining the 40/40 Club.

Acuna helped the Braves to the NL Championship Series in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and was on his way to challenging for the 40/40 Club again in 2021 when he went down with the ACL tear and watched from the dugout as the Braves went on to win the World Series.

While Acuna Jr. returned to the Braves lineup in late April for the 2022 season, he said that his surgically-repaired right knee continued to hamper him. However, he earned his third All-Star nod while hitting .266 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs in 119 games. The speed and the jump off the bases was noticably missing though. He stole 29 bases, but was caught an NL-leading 11 times.

A healthy Ronald Acuna Jr. is a powerful weapon for the Atlanta Braves

Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves rounds the bases before scoring a run.

If Ronald Acuna Jr. is back to 100 percent this season, he is a powerful weapon in the Atlanta Braves lineup. The 2018 NL Rookie of the Year is a five-tool player as well as the team's "spiritual leader" in terms of stoking the squad's competitive fire.

Braves second baseman Ozzie Ablies, himself returning from injury, told MLB.com that he is planning for a big 2023 out of Acuna.

"I expect him to be better than the 2019 Ronald, when he went off," Albies said. "I think he’s going to have a good year. Last year, he came back and he wasn’t playing at 100 percent. He feels better this year."