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Ronald Acuna Jr. 2024 Player Outlook: Undisputed Number One Pick Set For A Repeat
12 months agoRonald Acuna Jr. entered the 2023 season as the overall number-one pick in fantasy drafts. And he did not disappoint. The Braves outfielder played 159 games and hit .337/.416/.596 with 41 homers, 106 RBI, 149 runs and 73 stolen bases. Acuna Jr. led the league in steals and runs while ranking fifth for home runs and tied for eighth in RBI. He also came second in the race for the batting average crown. That was enough to secure the NL MVP award and comfortably be the number-one hitter in fantasy. He took over ten percentage points off of his career strikeout rate, putting up an 11.4% K%. That led to Acuna Jr. putting up a career-best 0.95 BB/K which was also fifth-best among qualified hitters. Over the last three seasons, the Braves have scored the second-most runs and there's no reason to believe they won't continue being one of the best offenses in baseball. His 162-game career average is 39 homers, 97 RBI, 131 runs and 43 steals with a .292/.381/.537 slash line. Even if Acuna Jr. regresses to his career average numbers, he'd still fully justify being the number one overall pick in fantasy.
