Braves Acuña Compared to Current & Future Hall of Famers

Each year, FanGraphs puts out its ZiPS projections and includes notable comparisons to players to get an idea of who they are. For Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., the comparisons give him some high praise. 

Of the three players he is compared to, one of them is Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, and another is future Hall of Famer Mike Trout. The third is Christian Yelich, who is still a three-time All-Star who has won an MVP and has also been an MVP runner-up. These comparisons are labeled to be offensive, but we can assume, based on the lists, that it’s position players vs pitchers. 

We’ll start with Henderson, the late stolen base king. While he’s known for his 1,406 career stolen bases, it’s easy to forget that he also had over 3,000 hits, over 1,000 RBIs and nearly 300 career home runs. He was an all-around ballplayer with an MVP to his, giving him multiple comparable traits outside of speed. 

Nowadays, Trout deals with the injury bug, and it’s hurt his numbers. If you watched baseball in the 2010s, he was the best player in the league for nearly the entire decade. He was known for his pop, speed and highlights in the outfield. The MVP was his until proven otherwise. When you win three and are a runner-up three more times, that argument is pretty strong. 

A healthy Acuña isn’t the perpetual frontrunner, unlike Trout. That honor belongs to Shohei Ohtani, who happens to be Trout’s old teammate. That being said, Acuña is an MVP candidate when healthy. He’s won one and has received MVP votes four times.

The comparisons for the Hall of Famer and the future Hall of Famer lineup. Yes, Trout is still bound for Cooperstown. In turn, these same arguments apply to Yelich. 

All in all, Acuña has received some high praise as part of a preview for the upcoming season. It shows what many see as his ceiling when he is around to reach it. 

The Braves star is coming off his fifth all-star appearance, being voted in as a starting outfielder, despite missing the first two months of the season. He batted .290 with a .935 OPS, 21 home runs and 42 RBIs. 

He received the Comeback Player of the Year Award to cap off a season fitting of it. He heads into the offseason fully healthy. So far, he looks good down in Winter Ball. Let’s see what becomes of it all. 

More From Atlanta Braves on SI