The Sporting News has announced that both Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr and manager Brian Snitker have each won one of their regular-season awards, as voted on by the players.
Surveying 376 MLB players in a tradition that has dated back to 1936, Atlanta came out on top in two categories: MLB Player of the Year and NL Manager of the Year.
Acuña, widely expected to be named the National League MVP, was named The Sporting News' MLB Player of the Year by a wide margin, receiving 242 votes.
Los Angeles Angels two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani was 2nd, with 44 votes, while Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts was third with 36 votes. Atlanta's Matt Olson (17) and Texas Rangers SS Corey Seager (15) complete the top five.
Acuña achieved history this season with MLB's first ever 40/70 season. Batting .337/.416/.596, Acuña led all of baseball in hits (217), runs (149), stolen bases (73), on-base percentage (.416), and total bases (383). He also led the National League in plate appearances and at-bats (735 & 643), OPS (1.012), & OPS+ (168).
Brian Snitker may have tied Counsell for manager of the year in the National League, but they did it in different ways. Snitker was recognized for the historic dominance of Atlanta's regular season - popular projections had Atlanta as division winners in 2023, but no one had the Braves tying the MLB record for homeruns in a season, finishing with MLB's best record, or have such a dominance in runs scored.
(Only seven teams in baseball scored more than 800 runs this season. Atlanta scored 947, and only one other team, the Los Angeles Dodgers with 906, was within fifty runs of Atlanta's production.)
Counsell, meanwhile, guided his team to a NL Central crown through dominant pitching. The Brewers led all of baseball with a 3.71 ERA and the 2nd lowest WHIP, 1.186.
Additionally, multiple Braves players were named to The Sporting News NL All-Star team, as voted on by front office members. Sean Murphy was one of three named players at catcher, accompanied by 3B Austin Riley, 2B Ozzie Albies, and OF Ronald Acuña Jr.
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