Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
Despite leading all of baseball in hard-hit percentage and exit velocity, Atlanta’s offense has failed to reach the heights established by its 2020 lineup thus far. Manager Brian Snitker recently reshuffled the batting order to try and coax the team out of its collective slump.
The one player Snitker hasn’t dared to move around is Ronald Acuña Jr., who’s become baseball’s most feared leadoff hitter—if not its most feared hitter, period.