Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves
Projected fWAR: 3.3
Current fWAR: 5.4
What’s a good barometer to use when it comes to measuring how a 21-year-old reigning NL Rookie of the Year performs in his second MLB season?
Ronald Acuña Jr. is the first player in MLB history with 125+ runs, 40+ home runs and 35+ stolen bases in a single season.@MLBRandomStats pic.twitter.com/X5AV0fK3nf
— Kevin Keneely (@KevinKeneely1) September 21, 2019
Yup, that’ll do it. A full year of this dude is just good for baseball, but hell for the rest of the NL East.
When comparing Acuna’s 2019 to his rookie campaign, a noticeable rise in line-drive rate can be seen (18.3% to 24.4%). His wRC+ for this batted-ball event actually has gone down about 100 points, and although his soft-hit rate has risen up to 10.3%, his hard-hit rate has also risen from 45.6% to 61.7%.
There haven’t been a whole lot of changes in his profile when looking at each of Acuna’s first two years, but he’s taken full advantage of being with the Braves since Opening Day. The real exciting part about his game is all the stolen bases. He’s swiped 37 bags so far this season and still has a week to get three more and post the first 40-40 season since Alfonso Soriano in 2006.
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