Braves star and Nationwide League MVP frontrunner Ronald Acuña Jr. is having an outrageously good 2023. Acuña is the primary participant in MLB historical past with a 30-homer, 60-steal season, and he did it earlier than September. That is likely one of the extra astonishing details of this baseball season.
However what’s driving this historic yr and an MVP chase? It is exceptional consistency and enchancment. These 5 stats inform the story. Let’s dive in.
1. Acuña has been slump-proof
Everybody goes by means of a droop sooner or later. That is baseball. Except, apparently, you are Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023. One of the spectacular components of his MVP run this yr is the consistency. He entered September with a .900 OPS in each month this season. So clearly, there’s been no prolonged droop. The one different participant with a .900 OPS in each month in a season within the final 5 years is Aaron Choose in 2022 (min. 75 plate appearances every month).
There hasn’t actually even been a mini droop! His lowest batting common in a conventional fantasy week (Monday to Sunday) this season is .217. His lowest on-base proportion in any week is .313. There are 139 gamers who qualify for a batting title this season. He’s the one one who hasn’t hit beneath .210 in any week. He’s additionally the one one who has not had an on-base proportion underneath .300 in any week (min. 20 plate appearances per week). Plus, he is had at the least one residence run or steal in each week this yr, the one participant in baseball who could make that declare.
Acuña Jr is, nevertheless, off to a gradual begin this week, going 1 for 10 within the first two video games of Atlanta’s sequence towards the Cardinals. He is additionally 1 for 14 relationship again to Sunday, so it is potential his first mini-slump of the yr comes at the beginning of NFL season. Not unhealthy!
2. He hits the ball actually arduous
One other aspect of his greatness is his capability to hit the ball very arduous. He is tied with Braves teammate Matt Olson for the most important league lead in common exit velocity amongst certified batters (94.7 MPH) this yr. His 63 batted balls of 110-plus mph are 16 greater than anybody else in baseball (Shohei Ohtani is second) and greater than 19 groups.
He’s hitting the ball with extra authority than anybody else in baseball, like this 121.2 MPH screaming residence run towards the Dodgers that was the hardest-hit ball within the majors this yr.
3. Ks have been lower in half
Acuña Jr. lower his strikeout price in half this yr, going from a 23.6 % Okay price in 2022, to 11.9 % in 2023. That is the biggest year-over-year enchancment by any hitter in over a half century. The one participant within the Reside Ball Period (since 1920) with a much bigger enchancment was Mark Belanger from 1968-69.
While you constantly smoke the ball and do not strike out, you may have a perfect mixture. He leads the majors in common exit velocity and has the sixth-lowest strikeout price. He is the one participant within the Statcast period (since 2015) to rank high 10 in each statistics.
As you’ll be able to see within the beneath scatterplot of each certified batter this yr, Acuña Jr. is in a league of his personal when it comes to this elite contact combo (trace: being within the lower-right nook is sweet).
TruMedia Sports activities
4. Pitchers cannot put him away
While you smash the ball and do not strike out, it is actually arduous for pitchers to place you away. Sound logic proper? That is one technique to clarify how Acuña Jr. is hitting .356 after an 0-2 rely this yr, whereas the whole league hits .181 in these conditions. The .356 mark is the best of its variety after 0-2 counts in 16 years, since Placido Polanco hit .402 in 2007 (who might neglect?). Polanco hit 9 residence runs that yr, so he wasn’t precisely an influence risk like Acuña Jr..
5. There is no gap in Acuña’s swing
One technique to decelerate a celebrity is to make him uncomfortable and do not enable him to get absolutely prolonged. Up to now, pitchers have thrown inside on Acuña Jr. to again him off the plate with some success. In his first 5 seasons he hit .219 on pitches 95 mph or extra on the internal third. Acuña Jr. has mounted that gap in 2023, hitting .375 on these arduous, inside pitches.
Acuña Jr. was a celebrity earlier than he tore his ACL two years in the past and struggled at instances in his first yr again in 2022. Clearly he is come again with a vengeance and brought his recreation to a different stage with consistency as an enormous key. I am nonetheless amazed he has not missed a single recreation this season.
All of it places him in place for his first MVP award with a stable September. A push to 40 residence runs and 70 steals will make him fairly powerful to beat, even with Mookie Betts creating fairly the competitors.