As things stand, the question isn’t if Ronald Acuña Jr. and Freddie Freeman will enter the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame, but when. Don’t let Freeman’s departure after the club’s 2021 season fool you: he’s all but a lock to earn induction into not only the Braves Hall of Fame, but the actual Hall of Fame, too. As for Acuña, he’s a five-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year and MVP winner, and a World Series champion. If Acuña retired tomorrow to pursue a dream of becoming a TikTok influencer, we can safely say he’d eventually join the 35 current Braves Hall of Famers.
However, while Freeman owns three World Series rings to Acuña’s one, the latter has one up on his former teammate: Acuña, unlike Freeman, has reached the World Baseball Classic semifinals — and Acuña’s Team Venezuela squad is only two wins away from its first WBC title.
Why Ronald Acuña Jr. has a leg up on Freddie Freeman
Acuña has had a mixed World Baseball Classic thus far, going 4-for-15 with two home runs, five RBIs, and two stolen bases in 17 plate appearances. Although he’s struck out six times, he’s drawn two walks and scored four runs for the 4–1 Venezuela squad.
Freeman, who previously represented Team Canada in 2017 and 2023, opted not to participate in this year’s WBC for personal reasons. The Canadian squad never advanced beyond pool play in that time.
Acuña Jr. may have this minor advantage on Freeman at the WBC, but it's important to keep the following in mind. Freeman has done a lot to pave the way for future Canadian stars to shine in the World Baseball Classic. However, he also starred for Canada when it wasn't popular to do so, and when making it out of pool play was incredibly unlikely. In 2026, with Freeman no longer in the picture, Canada advanced to the quarterfinals. That should mean something, but it's not everything when examining Freeman's greatness.
WBC success doesn't guarantee a Hall-of-Fame career
Let’s look at some history. As of 2026, no player has won the World Baseball Classic and reached the Hall of Fame. That might not sound surprising given the tournament began in 2006, but keep in mind that the early events featured the likes of Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki, and David Ortiz, all of whom are already in the Hall of Fame.
Only four players in league history — Robinson Canó, Octavio Dotel, and Santiago Casilla, all of whom were on the 2013 Dominican Republic squad, as well as Team Japan superstar Shohei Ohtani — have won a WBC title and at least one World Series. Of those four, Ohtani is the only one with a realistic chance at the Hall of Fame. Dotel and Casilla were relievers and occasional closers, and Canó served two performance-enhancing drug-related suspensions.
In fairness to Freeman, no one is really going to look at his career and say, “Great player, but he never won a World Baseball Classic.” He’s a lifetime .300 hitter, a reliable first baseman, and an all-around good guy. Freeman was on the Hall of Fame track before his first championship in 2021. It’s nonetheless amusing, though, to think he never even advanced beyond the WBC semifinals, yet he’s a three-time World Series champion with nearly 400 homers.
Now, none of this is to say that Acuña himself is destined for the Hall of Fame. He’s still only 28 years old, and two knee injuries — along with the pandemic-shortened 2020 season — have had a significant impact on his counting stats. With that said, the context of his overall career thus far should be more than enough to overcome the negatives at his current pace.
The question regarding Freeman, meanwhile, is whether he’ll wear a Dodgers or Braves cap on his plaque — or if he’ll go the boring route of Greg Maddux and opt to forego a logo. Please, for the sake of baseball fans, we urge Freeman not to pull a Maddux.