MLB Network has released the long-awaited top 100 baseball players for this upcoming season. At the top of the list sits Ronald Acuna Jr, right-fielder for the Atlanta Braves and unanimous National League MVP. The Venezuelan enjoyed a fantastic campaign in which he led the Braves to a first seed finish with historic offensive stats individually and as a team.
A groundbreaking 40-70 season and now the #1 spot on the #Top100RightNow!@Braves superstar @ronaldacunajr24 lands atop our countdown after winning the first MVP of his career. pic.twitter.com/8o5HrhNUDx
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 22, 2024
Acuna’s 2023 Season
The Braves finished the 2023 season as the top seed in the National League, winning the NL East with a 104-58 (.642) record. However, after a receiving a bye to the Division Series, they won just one playoff game as they fell 3-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies. Despite crashing out at their earliest opportunity, the Braves still had an exceptional regular season, led by Acuna Jr.
As well as becoming the first player in MLB history to record 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases in a single season, he also placed in the top five for the majority of individual offensive stats. His 41 total home runs was the fourth most in the National League. His Braves teammate Matt Olson hit 54, the most in baseball.
Furthermore, his batting average of .337 was the second most in Major League Baseball, only behind Luis Arraez of the Miami Marlins. His on-base percentage of .416 was also the highest in baseball, whilst his slugging percentage was at .496, fourth highest in the majors and second highest in the NL, behind Olson. Even more impressively, his OPS stood at 1.012, better than anyone else in the NL. ‘WAR’ stands for Wins Above Replacement, and measures a player’s overall value to a team by working out how many more wins he is worth than a replacement-level player at the same position. Acuna’s WAR stood at 8.1, which was only bettered by Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
At just 26-years old, Acuna has a lot of time to improve his game, which is a scary thought for the rest of the league. It may be unreasonable to expect more from someone who has just had a phenomenal campaign, yet his career stats suggest this was no fluke or anomaly, and this level of performance could be sustainable for what is an extremely talented player. Additionally, his ranking at number one in the top 100 players list ahead of players such as Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge highlight the media’s belief in him to put up another big season.
Career Achievements
Whilst winning MVP last season was amongst Acuna’s biggest career achievements to date, he has had plenty of other success to celebrate in his career up to now. In addition to his 2023 MVP, he won a World Series ring in 2021, despite not being on the post-season roster. This is because he suffered an ACL tear which cut short his season.
He was named to the All-MLB first team for the first time last season. He had been awarded All-MLB second team honours in 2019 and 2020, and was named the NL Rookie of the Year in 2018, exhibiting his prominence in the game ever since he was promoted to the majors. When he was first called up, he was the youngest player in the league. Acuna made an instant impact, hitting his first home run in his second game, in a 7-4 win against the Cincinnati Reds. It was expected, though, as he was ranked the second best prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Furthermore, he is a four-time MLB all-star, with no doubt many more to come. He has also won the silver slugger award three times, which is awarded to the best offensive player in each position.
The Hank Aaron award is given annually to the top hitters in the game. It is voted for by baseball fans and members of the media. For the National League, Acuna won it, whilst Ohtani was the recipient for the American League. He was the first member of the Braves to win the award since Freddie Freeman did so in 2020.
He and the Braves were highly favoured to win the World Series last year but fell disappointingly short. However, they are again amongst the favourites to win it all this season, and Acuna will be hoping to produce another dominant offensive season to help get them over the line.