Atlanta Braves Morning Chop sees a renewed Rookie of the Year battle

So what are the numbers?

As of this morning….

• SOTO
  • 74 games, .301 average, .337 OBP, .968 OPS
  • 15 HR, 17% walks*, 18.4% K-rate
  • 147 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR
• ACUNA
  • 66 games, .282 average, .342 OBP, .552 slugging, .894 OPS
  • 17 HR, 7.4% walks, 28.5% K rate
  • 127 wRC+, 2.0 fWAR

The advantage does belong to Soto… at this point.  You could even argue that his offense has been the only thing keeping the Nats afloat over the past couple of month.

However, recent trends are heading in different directions.

• SOTO, last 9 games
  • 5 for 26 (.192)
  • 2 HR, 6 RBI
  • 8K,  9 BB
  • .400 OBP, .423 SLG, .823 OPS
  • 124 wRC+
• ACUNA, last 7 games (includes Monday)
  • 13 for 29 (.448)
  • 6 HR, 11 RBI
  • 6K, 3 BB
  • .500 OBP, 1.138 SLUG, 1.638 OPS
  • 326 wRC+ (that’s a crazy-high figure)

Then there’s the “feats”.  Such things are like lightning bolts – unusual things that have great impact for a short period of time… but grab headlines.

Things like these:

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1029154698622914560

…and there’s this:

Sure:  these are crazy numbers as Acuña is on a streak that could garner him consideration for Player of the Week honors if it continues, but it may be interesting to monitor those headlines for Soto over the next month or so… particularly if he and the Nationals continue to fade.

The Swing Day

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Just take the events of Monday to reflect upon:  a day in which Acuña went nuts (again), the Braves won both ends of a double-header to take a full 1 game lead over the Phillies and – most notably – the Nationals were crushed in a stunning walk-off fashion for the second consecutive night.

[memo to self:  here come the Cardinals!]

This puts the Nats seven games behind Atlanta at 60-59 for the year.  Soto did homer late in that game to put the visitors up 4-2, but that was lost by multiple instances of Cardinal heroics in the next 2 innings (final score 7-6).  They are now 6 games behind in the Wild Card race, even.

You can actually look at the fortunes of these two rookies and trace their team’s play to each of them – at least in part.  The Braves have had a better supporting cast over the year for Acuña than Soto has – hence why the Nats are continuing to scuffle while Atlanta thrives.

But if Acuña can put up any kind of consistency over the season’s final 7 weeks, then the Braves will enjoy some playoff action while Acuña might just get a trophy for his mantle.