Hi Everyone —
Our pal Tommy passes along this little tidbit.
Aaron Judge’s first 28 games this year: .406/.500/.717 with 8 HR, 25 runs, 27 RBI.
Pretty good, right? OK, how about this:
Ronald Acuña’s first 28 games this year: .396/.500/.713 with 9 HR, 30 runs, 16 RBI.
Yikes. It can be easy to forget in this time of Shohei and Judge that Ronald Acuña Jr. was pretty widely regarded as the best player in baseball after the 2023 season. He was at the top of most of the lists I saw. He had a 40-70 season for crying out loud. He got off to a sluggish start in 2024 — it’s still hard to understand what strange voodoo hit Atlanta last year when just about everybody in that lineup collapsed — and then he tore his ACL, and the (legitimate) worry was that he would never be quite that dynamic a player again.
Well … yeah, he’s back, and he might again be the best player in baseball.
How’s he doing it? Well, you simply can’t throw a fastball by him. Acuña is hitting .453 on fastballs so far this year. I mean, he’s no slouch on breaking balls and changeups either, but when you start with the pitcher knowing that they can’t really get away with their heater unless they spot it perfectly, well, that’s a pretty good place to start.
There has been some talk about him being a lot more cautious on the bases, which makes sense for a guy coming off a torn ACL. He only has three stolen bases so far. But two of those have come this week; he’s clearly feeling more like himself.
I can get as caught up in the Shohei/Judge hype as anybody — they’re two all-time players, and we’re lucky to watch them play. But when Ronald Acuña is right, and thanks goodness it looks like he is right again, there’s nobody better.
Oh, as long as we’re here, I suppose we should point this out — here’s total money due to a few different players through 2028:
Shohei Ohtani: $280 million (almost all deferred)
Juan Soto: $195 million
Aaron Judge: $160 million
Kris Bryant: $104 million
Xander Bogaerts, $100 million
Giancarlo Stanton: $96 million (including 2028 buyout)
Anthony Rendon: $76 million (his contract runs out after 2026)
Ronald Acuña Jr.: $68 million
We said it at the time, and we’ll say it again: That’s the worst money contract a player has ever signed.
Kathleen’s Corner
This Fernando Tatis Jr. bobblehead has a spinning bat. I have a talking Rusty Kuntz bobblehead with “realistic hair,” but this is pretty cool too.
Is bunting overrated? Sometimes. Is this bunt perfect? Yes.
Last Podcast on the Left shared this awkward announcing moment that included a little existential crisis.
MiLB revealed the existence of a 1,200-pound baseball. They’re calling it the World’s Most Autographed Baseball and it may be coming to a city near you!
