Just because the 2025 season wasn’t in the Atlanta Braves favor, doesn’t mean the players can’t snag a few awards for their performance before the off-season.
It was just announced this morning that the Major League Baseball Player’s Association (MLBPA) has named Ronald Acuña Jr. “Comeback Player of the Year.” And breakout rookie Drake Baldwin received the “Outstanding Rookie” award.
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If you can recall, Acuña’s return to Truist started out (on the very first pitch) with a solo shot to left field back in May.
This had the crowd erupting and at once gaining the hope that the offense has turned around for the season.
Acuña ended the season with a .935 OPS, 21 home runs, 42 RBI’s in 228 at-bats.
Pretty impressive for a player who missed the beginning of the season due to injury and arrived ready to make a statement.
Baldwin was nothing short of incredible for the Braves during his rookie season.
With him and Sean Murphy playing catcher interchangeably in the lineup, his bat was always missed when he was absent and when it was present, nine times out of 10, provided the spike that the offense needed during the games.
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There was a fear that he wouldn’t have enough playing time throughout the season, due to the position swaps, however, it turned out his .810 OPS, 19 total homeruns and 80 RBIs was enough to gain the attention of the MLBPA to award Baldwin with this honor.
A great achievement for both players heading into the offseason, as it will give them more to build on as the team looks to restructure as a whole next season.