Atlanta Braves: Is Ronald Acuna Jr. the next Mike Trout?

Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. became the 8th player in MLB history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in his age-21 season or younger.

Ronald Acuna Jr., the young Atlanta Braves (59-41) outfielder, is the first to accomplish this feat since Los Angeles Angels (51-49) outfielder Mike Trout back in 2013.

Anytime your name is mentioned as having done something that was last accomplished since Trout, the comparisons are going to arise.

Trout is hands down the best player in the game today and has the chance to be one of the best players ever.

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Acuna Jr. is in his second season in the majors, having been named Rookie of the Year last year and being named an All-Star this year.  Now the pressure is certainly on to become the Braves star, but does he have the talent to become the next Mike Trout?

First of all, let me be clear, I am not anointing him as the second coming of Trout.  I’m saying he has the talent to possibly get there at some point in his career.  To this point in the season he is slashing .293/.375/.503 with 23 home runs and 21 stolen bases.

For comparison in Trout’s season at 21, he slashed .323/.432/.557 with 27 home runs and 33 stolen bases.  Acuna Jr. can definitely match those home run and stolen base numbers if not exceed them.  I don’t think he can match Trout’s batting average or the rest of his slash line for that matter.

Although for comparison Trout’s season at 21 was his 3rd year in the league while Acuna Jr.’s season this year is only his 2nd in the big leagues.

As the numbers suggest, Acuna Jr. is not quite as good as Trout was at this point in his career, he certainly can become the Mike Trout of the Atlanta Braves and carry them to a division title.