Two players from Atlanta’s roster were brought up in a conversation about current players who should be inducted into the Hall of Fame as baseball gets ready to make those decisions.
Telling someone you saw a Hall of Fame player in his peak is not something you do very often.
One writer at MLB.com wanted to share with everyone who is on a Hall of Fame pace as we get ready for the announcements of the National Baseball Hall of Fame at the end of this month.
One of the geniuses behind the new features on MLB Statcast, Mike Petriello, posted an essay about how, historically, forty active Hall of Famers have been playing in any given season, dating back to 1955. And two distinct Braves players were mentioned while talking about who currently matches that description.
OF Ronald Acuña Jr
First up was a Braves player in Tier 5, “It’s not too soon to call them legends.” This honor is shared by Juan Soto and Ronald Acuña Jr., who are both 26 years of age or younger and are getting close to 30 WAR.
Petriello talks about how these two players’ starts are unavoidably headed toward Cooperstown at anything like their current rate, with the obvious qualifier of “barring serious injury or off-field issues” attached.Acuña has a career batting average of.292, 161 home runs, 180 stolen bases, and 25.9 WAR in 673 games. In addition to winning MVP in 2023 and Rookie of the Year in 2018, he has been selected for four All-Star teams, earned three Silver Slugger awards, and been voted MVP on the down ballot in three additional seasons, finishing fifth in 2019. Soto, who is one year younger than Acuña but hasn’t lost the
majority of a season due to injury as Acuña did, has 779 career games at 28.6 WAR. With 160 home runs, 50 stolen bases, and a career, Soto is doing well.284 batting average in addition to a baseball record.421 within the base. Although he has finished in the top ten four times and has not yet earned an MVP, he has three All-Star selections, three Silver Sluggers, and was Ronald’s runner-up for Rookie of the Year.
SP Spencer Strider
Tier 10: “The young right-now stars” is where Strider appears, along with other young players of note like Rafael Devers, Yordan Alvarez, and Julio Rodríguez.
While Strider and everyone in this tier still have a long way to go before being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Petriello points out that several of the best young players in baseball are statistically certain to become Hall of Famers.Strider has played in more than two seasons of baseball and has amassed 10 WAR. In his 320.2 career innings, he has struck out 483 batters. Last season, he led all MLB in strikeouts (281) and strikeout rate (13.5 K/9). In just his first two full seasons in the pros, Strider has already posted a campaign that saw him come second in the Rookie of the Year voting, earn an All Star selection, and place fourth in the Cy Young voting.
(Note: Using MLB’s minimum 1000 innings pitched requirement, Strider’s new rotation partner Chris Sale leads all-time in K/9 with 11.0638 through 1780.2 lifetime innings.)
Is that all there is to it?It makes sense that no other current Atlanta Braves were included on the list. In order to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, one must presumably achieve certain statistical benchmarks or excel in a particular area of baseball. Following his 40/40 campaign and MVP victory, Acuña appears headed toward hitting some significant home run totals. As one of the greatest strikeout artists in the game, Strider’s performance in striking out batters last season was unmatched by any other pitcher. 
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