In 2018, Ronald Acuña Jr. stood because the Atlanta Braves‘ No. 1 prospect. That season, he earned the Nationwide League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the 12 months Award.
By the tip of his marketing campaign, he had logged 26 dwelling runs earlier than his twenty first birthday, changing into certainly one of 5 gamers to take action in all of baseball.
Acuña’s efficiency surprised the nation, however now the Braves are within the firm of rising star Eric Hartman, who’s additional cementing himself in MLB historical past in a separate class.
Braves’ Eric Hartman Follows in Legend Andruw Jones’ Footsteps, Surpasses Ronald Acuña Jr.
On Aug. 29, 20-year-old Hartman surpassed the 25 dwelling runs and 50 stolen bases milestone.
He’s now the primary minor league participant to report these numbers since former MLB star Andruw Jones again in 1995, per MLB Pipeline.
As identified by Jack Johnson of MLB.com, “A 25-50 season has been recorded solely 15 instances in Main League Baseball since 1901.”
This can be a feat even Acuña couldn’t nail down within the minors. For reference, in 2017, his final full minor league season, he hit 21 homers and stole 44 bases.
Hartman now owns 26 homers and 51 stolen bases. He’s at present slashing .265/.362/.491 with an .853 OPS via 117 video games.
Hartman was chosen 611th total within the twentieth spherical of the 2024 MLB draft. Since then, he’s cut up time between a number of minor league ranges.
Historical past is being made earlier than our eyes, and if the Braves can retain Hartman, they are going to be in good palms in years to return.
Snapshot of the Braves Because the Postseason Nears
Hartman apart, Atlanta has a big pool of expertise aboard within the minors and the massive leagues this 12 months, as confirmed by their third-place rating within the MLB standings.
At 81-55 total, they path the Milwaukee Brewers (85-51) and the Tampa Bay Rays (81-54) in first and second, respectively.
After all, the Braves lead the NL East by a notable margin. The Philadelphia Phillies (76-60) land in second, adopted by the Miami Marlins (68-68), the Washington Nationals (65-73) and the New York Mets (61-75).
FanGraphs’ newest MLB Playoff Odds, as of Aug. 30, give Atlanta an 88.6% likelihood of profitable its division and a 7.3% likelihood of profitable the World Sequence this 12 months.
The Braves are at present driving a shocking six-game profitable streak after their newest 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.
With yet one more conflict remaining within the three-game collection at Truist Park, Atlanta is trying to make a clear sweep of the set. The collection finale is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 30, at 1:35 p.m. ET.
On Monday, Aug. 31, the Braves will face the San Francisco Giants at 6:05 p.m. ET, however just one recreation is scheduled.
Following the Braves-Giants assembly, Atlanta will head to Nationals Park to face Washington for a two-game set.
They may then finish the week and enter the weekend with a four-game collection in opposition to the Phillies at Residents Financial institution Park.
The postseason is approaching rapidly, and Atlanta is in the end attempting to additional solidify itself as a collection contender for the extremely touted World Sequence.
Like HEAVY’s content material? Be sure you observe us.
This text was initially revealed on HEAVY
The put up Atlanta Braves’ Eric Hartman Simply Did One thing Ronald Acuña Jr. Couldn’t Pull Off appeared first on HEAVY.
