MLB awards: NL Rookie of the Year a Landslide

Ronald Acuña Jr. was crowned the NL Rookie of the Year on Monday. The MLB awards vote wasn’t even close.

On Monday, the BBWAA announced that Atlanta Braves OF Ronald Acuña Jr. is the NL Rookie of the Year in MLB awards. Acuña put together one of the best rookie campaigns in recent memory, capping it off with a postseason grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Surprisingly, Acuna defeated the 2nd place finisher, Juan Soto, handily. Acuña received 27 first place votes while Soto only received 2.

This is not reflective of the seasons both ballplayers put together, at least offensively. When you compare each players performance at the plate, it’s surprising how similar they are.

• Batted Balls – Acuña (313) / Soto (316)
• H – Acuña (127) / Soto (121)
• 2B – Acuña (26) / Soto (25)
• HR – Acuña (26) / Soto (22)
• R – Acuña (78) / Soto (77)
• RBI – Acuña (64) / Soto (70)
• fWAR – Acuña (3.7) / Soto (3.7)

In contrast to Soto, offensively, Acuña hit better for power this season. His statcast numbers says it all.

• SLG: Acuña (.552) / Soto (.517)
• Statcast numbers:
  • Exit Velo – Acuña (90.8) / Soto (89.4)
  • Barrel% – Acuña (13.4) / Soto (9.8)
  • Hard Hit% – Acuña (46.6) / Soto (42.1)

However, Soto exercised much more patience at the plate than Acuña did. According to his Plate Discipline numbers, Soto swings at fewer pitches inside (Z-Swing%) and outside (O-Swing%) of the zone. He swings of fewer pitches altogether (Swing%). Soto also takes a first pitch strike (F-Strike%) more than Acuña does, and swings and misses (SwStr%) fewer than Acuña does.

• OBP – Acuña (.366) / Soto (.406)
• Plate discipline:
  • O-Swing% – Acuña (27.5) / Soto (21.9)
  • Z-Swing% – Acuña (72.8) / Soto (60.7)
  • Swing% – Acuña (46.1) / Soto (38.8)
  • F-Strike% – Acuña (62) / Soto (57.5)
  • SwStr% – Acuña (11.6) / Soto (7.6)

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Offensively, Acuña and Soto cancel each other out. Their overall offensive numbers are mirror images of each other despite both players having a different approach at the plate.

However, where Acuña and Soto do differ is in their fielding abilities. Acuña’s saved 5 runs this season (DRS) while Soto posted a -5 DRS. Also, while Acuña committed more errors than Soto, he made more difficult plays than Soto did, thereby increasing his defensive value.

At the end of the day, both young men deserve the award. Unfortunately, in MLB awards, there can only be one winner. Should Acuña have won so handily? Probably not. Lucky for us, with Acuña and Soto leading the youth movement in baseball, we’re in for a fun ride.