3. Marcell Ozuna, LF
Marcell Ozuna brought personality and pop to the Braves in 2020. He led the league in homers and RBI while batting .338 and posting a ridiculous OPS+ of 172. Had Ozuna have taken the 2020 NL-MVP honors instead of Freddie Freeman, I don’t think there would have been much of an argument against it.
He’s one of the hardest-hitting players in the game today and he’s set to begin his brand new four-year pact with Atlanta this season.
2. Ronald Acuna Jr., RF
The Braves have an embarrassment of riches. It is such a luxury to be able to put a talent like Ronald Acuna Jr. in the leadoff spot. Most teams could ill afford not having him in a run-producing role, but the Braves have so much depth in their lineup, Acuna stays at the top.
He’s already drawing comparisons to Mike Trout. Acuna does it all, he plays elite defense and he is a threat to join the 40/40 club. Since 2018, his .371 on-base percentage is the 19th best in the league.
1. Freddie Freeman, 1B
The reigning N.L. MVP has taken his game to a new level. Freddie Freeman is among league leaders in nearly every category dating back to any of the past few years. I’ll use a couple of random examples to demonstrate.
Doubles dating back to 2017: 8th with 136
On-Base Percentage dating back to 2016: 4th with .400
Line-Drive Percentage dating back to 2016: 1st with 28.9%
Hard-Hit Balls dating back to 2018: 7th with 492
Freddie ranks in the 91st percentile in exit velocity and the 96th percentile in hard-hit percentage. Meaning, he hits the ball hard and he does it often.
Freeman hits the ball with authority to all fields and is extremely effective against the shift.
92nd percentile in K%. The list goes on and on. Freeman is truly one of the best and most consistent hitters in the game. At age 31, he’s tracking toward a Hall of Fame nod. His floor is in the MVP conversation and his ceiling strikes fear into the hearts of pitchers around the league.