Ronald Acuna Jr. is on the verge of becoming the NL’s best player

Ronald Acuña Jr. is so close to becoming the National League’s best player.

By his 25th birthday, Ronald Acuña Jr. will be the best player in the National League.

The Atlanta Braves outfielder is entering his third season at the big league level. Thus far, he’s won NL Rookie of the Year in 2018, made it to his first MLB All-Star Game in 2019 and taking home his first Silver Slugger last year as well. He’s finished in the top-12 in NL MVP voting and he only seems to be getting better with every game he plays for the popular southeastern franchise.

Regardless of how many games were going to be played in the 2020 MLB season, Acuña would have been among a handful of players to win NL MVP. He’s arguably the best player on his team currently, although All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman and ace pitcher Mike Soroka have strong claims to that notion as well. They’re great, but we haven’t seen the best of Acuña yet.

Had he played all 162 games last season, Acuña surely would have gone 40/40. He came up three stolen bases short of doing the improbable, as he finished with 41 home runs and 101 runs batted in. Acuña slashed .280/.365/.518 in his second year with the Braves. He’s still a tad raw and unrefined, but he has a chance to be the best position player Atlanta has had since Chipper Jones.

It won’t be long before Ronald Acuña Jr. is the best player in baseball.

There is a certain star quality about him that resonates with Atlanta like Dominique Wilkins did on the hardwood, Deion Sanders did on the gridiron and Josef Martinez does on the pitch. There’s also a cool factor about him as well that makes him one of the most captivating watches on television nightly during the season. You’ll want to tune in just to see what he does for the Braves.

Acuña has more pop from the right side of the plate than even Andruw Jones. While he’s not quite the fielder of Jones, because no one is and no one ever will be, Acuña is fleeter of foot and won’t eat himself out of the league. He has a way to go to walk out of bed and hit .300 like Freeman does and Chipper Jones did, but he’s got a keen eye at the plate. Acuña is special for Atlanta.

He will be entering his age-22 season with the Braves. It might happen this year, but by the time Acuña completes his age-25 season with Atlanta in 2023, he will be the best player in the National League. The ball sounds different coming off his bat. If he can mature even just a little bit, wouldn’t he become the best player to play for the Braves since Greg Maddux, regardless of position?

Acuña has the star supporting cast around him to become a superstar in this league. Freeman is only 30 years old. His best buddy in second baseman Ozzie Albies is still in his early 20s. It’ll be a few years before shortstop Dansby Swanson approaches 30. This is a core that should keep the Braves in the postseason hunt for years to come, as long as they don’t succumb to pitching woes.

It may not be this year, but Acuña is on the verge of being the best player in the National League.