There’s a proverb that reads, ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ It can refer to anything, anybody, anywhere. When somebody is out of the spotlight for whatever reason, you tend to forget how good that someone is at their craft.

Case in point is Atlanta Braves outfielder/phenom/leadoff batter and most exciting player in baseball, Ronald Acuna Jr. Experts and Braves fans can probably add best player in baseball to his resume if he is able to finish the season fully healthy.

Yes, he is finally healthy and able to showcase his talents every day. Acuna is showing the world why the Braves were not including him in trade proposals when they were going through their infamous rebuild and why he might be the most talented Atlanta Brave ever.

Ronald Acuna Jr. is the best player in baseball. It is hard to argue against that statement, especially when he is putting up numbers the way he has done over the first part of the season.

Acuna’s production during the early part of this 2023 season should already have him pegged as an early favorite for the National League Most Valuable Player award. Through the first 32 games, Acuna has tallied a .355 batting average, six homers, 20 RBI, league-leading 44 hits, 29 runs and 15 stolen bases.

Maybe most importantly, Acuna’s strikeout totals are just 22 so far. That pales in comparison to his 188 total in 2019.

It is not often that a player possesses both the power and speed on the bases that make them a 40-40 threat. Only a handful of stars have ever joined the 40-homer/40-stolen bases club. This includes Alfonso Soriano with the Washington Nationals in 2006, Alex Rodriguez with the Seattle Mariners in 1998, Barry Bonds with the San Francisco Giants in 1996 and Jose Canseco with the Oakland Athletics in 1988.

Acuna certainly has the talent to join that exclusive club. Not to say it is going to happen or that he should be criticized if he doesn’t, because injuries, unfortunately, are a part of Acuna’s history. With his injury history and propensity to getting plunked in the batter’s box, Acuna Jr.’s production has been limited following his meteoric rise out of the minor leagues to the majors full time.

He tore his ACL in 2021 which ended his season after 82 games. He returned in 2022 and played 119 games but finished with a .266 average and 126 strikeouts. He’s been hit by a pitch 40 times since arriving in Atlanta, which is always a threat to him being able to play a full season. But if he does this year, an MVP award should be his to lose.