Ronald Acuna

Ronald Acuna

25-Year-Old OutfielderOF
Atlanta Braves
2023 Fantasy Outlook
The baseball world wondered what Acuna would look like coming off his July 2021 ACL tear. Our answer: He remains one of the most dynamic players in the game. There was no easing back into the running game, as Acuna stole two bases in his return from the injured list April 28 and swiped a total of nine bags in his first 20 games of 2022. The dog days of summer were tough on Acuna, and he finished the year with a .413 SLG, over 100 points below his career mark. However, he still ranked in the top eight percent of the league in all of hard-hit percentage, xwOBA and xSLG, per Statcast. His launch angle was down close to eight points from his prior two seasons. Now that he's further removed from the knee surgery, and perhaps with a few tweaks, Acuna should be able to tap into more power and return to the elite tier of fantasy contributors. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
$Signed a seven-year, $99.94 million contract extension with the Braves in April of 2019. Contract includes $17 million team option ($10 million buyout) for 2027 and $17 million team option ($10 million buyout) for 2028.
Targeting Thursday return
OFAtlanta Braves
March 21, 2023
Acuna hasn't yet spoken to Atlanta manager Brian Snitker since Venezuela was eliminated from the WBC, but the team expects him to be in the Grapefruit League lineup Thursday against the Tigers, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
The 25-year-old went 4-for-18 during five WBC games with a double and three steals. Acuna posted a career-low .764 OPS in 2022 over 119 games as he made his return from ACL surgery, but the main issue was his launch angle, not his ability to crush the ball. A 30-30 season, or even better, is entirely plausible for Acuna if he stays healthy.
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Batting Stats
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2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
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2020 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
79
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
36
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2020
 
 
+4%
OPS vs RHP
2022
 
 
+9%
OPS vs RHP
2021
 
 
+10%
OPS vs LHP
2020
 
 
+20%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2020vs Left .847 249 46 10 31 12 .254 .390 .458
Since 2020vs Right .884 846 143 43 100 42 .272 .371 .513
2022vs Left .714 126 23 3 7 8 .234 .349 .364
2022vs Right .779 407 48 12 43 21 .275 .351 .428
2021vs Left 1.067 81 16 6 16 3 .302 .432 .635
2021vs Right .969 279 56 18 36 14 .278 .384 .585
2020vs Left .848 42 7 1 8 1 .226 .429 .419
2020vs Right 1.020 160 39 13 21 7 .256 .400 .620
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2020
 
 
+20%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+15%
OPS at Home
2021
 
 
+13%
OPS at Home
2020
 
 
+43%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2020Home .962 549 100 33 81 27 .278 .399 .563
Since 2020Away .801 521 83 19 49 25 .263 .355 .446
2022Home .819 259 36 10 31 13 .268 .359 .460
2022Away .713 274 35 5 19 16 .263 .343 .370
2021Home 1.046 205 43 16 34 10 .278 .410 .636
2021Away .922 155 29 8 18 7 .289 .374 .548
2020Home 1.240 85 21 7 16 4 .317 .494 .746
2020Away .865 92 19 6 12 2 .213 .359 .507
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Stat Review
How does Ronald Acuna compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.42
 
BB Rate
9.9%
 
K Rate
23.6%
 
BABIP
.331
 
ISO
.148
 
AVG
.266
 
OBP
.351
 
SLG
.413
 
OPS
.764
 
wOBA
.338
 
Exit Velocity
91.2 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
35.0%
 
Barrels/PA
8.3%
 
Expected BA
.272
 
Expected SLG
.486
 
Sprint Speed
22.1 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
47.7%
 
Line Drive %
18.3%
 
Fly Ball %
34.0%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Ronald Acuna See More
RotoWire Roundtable: Mid-March Fantasy Baseball Top 300 Update
6 days ago
The RotoWire Roundtable Rankings feature a new player at the top, with Ronald Acuna slipping past Trea Turner to lead a tightly-packed top five.
MLB: Another Approach to Steals
7 days ago
Erik Siegrist explains three different approaches to steals this season, including the path he took in his TGFBI draft.
World Baseball Classic Betting Odds, Picks and Predictions
15 days ago
Erik Halterman breaks down the betting odds for the 2023 World Baseball Classic and offers his best bets for the pool and knockout stages.
RotoWire Roundtable: Updated Top-300 Fantasy Baseball Rankings
25 days ago
The RotoWire Roundtable crew shares their updated rankings, with changes as early as the second pick of the draft.
Collette Calls: 2023 NL Central Bold Predictions
41 days ago
Jason Collette tackles the NL Central with his next set of bold predictions. Find out why he's fading Lars Nootbaar and who he thinks will lead the Cubs in saves.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Acuna presents quite the conundrum for 2022 fantasy players. He was the top pick in some 2021 leagues and filled the role admirably until an awkward play into the outfield wall in mid-July resulted in a torn ACL. A leg injury for someone whose game features speed is a problem, not to mention the importance of a hitter's lower half in hitting the ball with authority. Acuna is expected to miss the first few weeks of the campaign but could be cleared to serve as the designated hitter by the end of April, with a return to the outfield potentially coming a month later. It could be tough for Acuna to live up to fantasy expectations this season coming off the injury, but his natural talent and abilities can still take him further than most in his situation.
Acuna was a popular pick at number one overall last offseason, and while he didn't finish as the year's best player, it's hard to say he had a disappointing campaign. His .250/.406/.581 line was good for career highs in the latter two categories and led to a career-best 159 wRC+, though his 30-point drop in average was a blow to fantasy players in most formats. His overall output was also held back by the fact that he appeared in just 45 games, missing time due to a wrist issue among other minor ailments. When active, however, the third-year outfielder demonstrated growth in important areas, improving his BB% from 10.6% to 18.8% while increasing his exit velocity from 90.6 mph to 92.4 mph. If his average remains mediocre this season (his .254 xBA suggests he didn't underachieve there), it will hurt his fantasy value by a small amount, but the overall picture here is of a young phenom continuing to grow.
We may now have the answer to the question: "Who else would you draft 1.1 besides Mike Trout?" Acuna Jr., before his 22nd birthday, led all players in fantasy earned auction value last year while nearly pulling off a 40-40 season, slightly edging out Cody Bellinger in overall value. Christian Yelich would have likely won the title had his season not ended prematurely, but the fact Acuna Jr. began 2017 in High-A and ended 2019 as he did is an astounding feat. His barrel rate last season was in the 95th percentile, as was his xSLG and overall offensive production when putting the ball in play. There simply are not enough superlatives to describe what Acuna Jr. can bring to a fantasy roster as he contributes to all five categories and does so exceedingly well in four of them. His deal keeps him in Atlanta for the foreseeable future and health would be the only thing that could derail this production train.
A lot of top prospects fail to live up to the hype. Acuna was not one of them. After receiving the "Kris Bryant Treatment," Acuna got the call to Atlanta on April 25 and ended up returning top-20 value in the outfield in just 487 plate appearances. The incredible bat speed he showed as a prospect manifested itself right away with Acuna hitting for both average and power. His barrel rate of 8.6 Brls/PA was a top-20 mark in baseball (min. 150 batted-ball events), and his recorded sprint speed was also elite. It's incredible to think of what the numbers could have looked like had Acuna not missed a month with a knee sprain. While it's not wise to prorate stats for most players, Acuna is the rare exception with whom it's totally plausible to think he could keep up a similar rate of production over the course of a full season. There is some swing and miss here (25.3%), but Acuna may lead off for the Braves and his physical tools are right up there with the best of the best.
Not only is Acuna the best prospect in baseball, he might be the best prospect to come along since Mike Trout and Bryce Harper were competing for pole position in 2012. It's incredibly rare for a 19-year-old prospect to earn a promotion to Triple-A, but Acuna, who opened the year at High-A, didn't just stop by to get a lay of the land. He was immediately the best player in the International League and was 62 percent better than the league's average hitter (162 wRC+) over 54 games. Dripping with fantasy-relevant tools, Acuna has the speed to steal 30-plus bases, enough power to hit 30-plus homers and the approach and bat-to-ball skills to hit .300. While he didn't show the same patience last year that he did in his first two professional seasons, he will be an OBP monster when appropriate fear is established in the minds of big-league pitchers. Acuna will be promoted to the majors in mid April, once the Braves have secured an extra year of control, and he could be a five-category force from Day 1.
An under-the-radar July 2 international signee out of Venezuela in 2014, Acuna has hit at every stop in pro ball, showcasing high-end tools along the way. He missed 15 weeks in the middle of the season with a thumb injury, but his .819 OPS would have ranked sixth in the Sally League, just behind top Rockies prospect Brendan Rodgers, if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. At 18, he would have been easily the youngest player in the top-10 on that leaderboard, and his 14 steals in just 40 games serve as another separator. The case can be made that on a per-game basis, Acuna was the most impressive hitter in Low-A last year, when factoring in age. He projects to grow into plus power and should maintain above average speed through his prime years, but we won't know what kind of hitter Acuna will be until he gets a taste of quality offspeed stuff at Double-A and Triple-A.
More Fantasy News
Gets go-ahead for WBC
OFAtlanta Braves
February 9, 2023
Atlanta approved Acuna to play for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic on Thursday, Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
ANALYSIS
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Skipping World Baseball Classic
OFAtlanta Braves
January 21, 2023
Acuna wanted to represent Venezuela at the upcoming World Baseball Classic but doesn't expect to do so, following the advice of doctors and of Atlanta's training staff, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
ANALYSIS
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Elbow feeling fine
OFAtlanta Braves
October 12, 2022
Acuna said he "feels good" after taking a pitch off his right elbow during Wednesday's win over the Phillies in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
ANALYSIS
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Not in Wednesday's lineup
OFAtlanta Braves
October 5, 2022
Acuna isn't starting Wednesday against Miami.
ANALYSIS
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Drives in run, steals base in win
OFAtlanta Braves
October 4, 2022
Acuna went 1-for-3 with an RBI single, two walks and a stolen base in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Marlins.
ANALYSIS
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