Where Ronald Acuña Jr. ranks among the Braves’ all-time greats
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Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 2023 season was one of the best offensive performances in major league history, landing him his first career MVP Award. It seems kind of weird to type, but Acuña is going into his seventh major league season at this point, even though he won’t turn 27 until after next season is over. He has appeared in 673 regular season games over that span, but was limited to just 46 in the shortened 2020 season and 82 in 2021 due to an ACL injury. (He also has 29 postseason contests under his belt so far.)
Position Player WAR
19th: 26.7 by fWAR
18th: 25.9 by bWAR/rWAR
We are talking about Baseball Reference’s version of WAR (bWAR or rWAR) here. His total currently ranks 18th in franchise history. Of the players ranked ahead of Acuña, all but one of them spent at least eight seasons in a Braves uniform. If you conservatively projected Acuña for two more 5-win seasons, that would move him pretty much into the Top 10 in franchise history.
Batting Average
27th: .292
This one will be worth tracking over the next few seasons. Over his first five seasons as a professional, Acuña had a .277 batting average in just under 2,300 plate appearances. He hit .337 during his MVP season in 2023. Acuña’s career .292 average is 27th in franchise history and just behind Fred McGriff, Joe Torre and Freddie Freeman. Boston Braves outfielder Billy Hamilton is the franchise leader with a .339 career average.
One notable thing here is that if you adjust for league average, Acuña’s average is 16 percent better than the league’s, which is 11th in franchise history.
On-Base Percentage
12th: .381
Acuña currently ranks 12th in franchise history with a .381 on-base percentage. Again, this number got a big boost after his 2023 season. He put up a .370 on-base percentage over his first five seasons and then got on base at a .416 clip last season. Billy Hamilton is the franchise leader at .456, but Chipper Jones holds the modern day record at .401.
Similarly to above, his OBP is 18 percent better than league average, which puts him ninth in franchise history already.
Slugging Percentage
2nd: .537
Here is an impressive one. In the franchise history of the Braves, only one player has a better mark than Acuña’s .537 slugging percentage. That player, of course, is Hank Aaron who slugged .567 during his time in a Braves uniform. For context, Chipper Jones is fourth in franchise history at .529.
This is where adjusting for league average knocks him down, though. He has prodigious power in an era of prodigious power, and his slugging of “only” 27 percent above league average is “just” 11th-highest in franchise history. (It’s worth noting, though, that it’s fourth among players with 3,000+ PAs as a Brave. Rate stats, man.)
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