The MLB season is very long, yet these three players on the Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, and Baltimore Orioles started things off on the right foot.
Mike Trout, Ronald Acuña Jr., and John Means are off to very hot starts on the 2021 Major League Baseball campaign.
Three Players Off To Blistering Starts In The 2021 Campaign
1. Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels
The least surprising name on the list of hot starters is, without a doubt, Mike Trout.
Trout is the gold standard when it comes to MLB players, and he is on fire to start the 2021 MLB season.
The Los Angeles Angels’ center fielder is hitting .365/.484/.692 in the season’s first 31 games, with eight home runs, 22 runs scored, 18 RBI, and a couple of stolen bases.
He leads the league in wRC+, which means weighted Runs Created Plus, with 221.
¡Pongan los outfielders que quieran! ⚾👋@MikeTrout #VamosAngels pic.twitter.com/EnaDhLul0H
— Angels Béisbol (@AngelsBeisbol) May 5, 2021
The wRC+ stat considers a number of offensive contributions and situations to establish whether a player is performing above or below average, with 100 being considered “average”.
Trout’s 221 mark means he has been 121 percent better than his peers, which is absolutely amazing.
And since not everything is offense, Trout also leads the league in Wins Above Replacement, the famous WAR, with 2.5.
WAR encompasses offense, defense, and baserunning in a single stat, and Trout trumps them all with his performance.
2. Ronald Acuña Jr., OF, Atlanta Braves
If there is a player in Major League Baseball with a chance to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases, that player is Ronald Acuña Jr.
The Atlanta Braves’ outfielder is already up to 10 home runs and six stolen bases in the young season, and we are not even in mid-May.
The dynamic star already hit 41 bombs and stole 37 bases in 2019, but this time, he seems serious about going 40-40.
He is one of the few true stars who can impact any game with his speed.
RONALD ACUÑA JR. CAN FLY 🏃♂️🌬️ pic.twitter.com/a9R99iY9gf
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 29, 2021
Additionally, Acuña has made improvements to his overall offensive game, and is now hitting .305/.404/.636 with a 175 wRC+ in the first few weeks of the campaign.
The .305 average would be, by far, a career-best for him, as would be the 175 wRC+.
Of course, there is still a lot of ground to cover in the season, but the Braves are in really good hands with Acuña leading off and taking four or five plate appearances per game.
3. John Means, SP, Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles left-hander John Means has been one of the year’s most pleasant surprises so far.
Means hasn’t had a single bad start yet: his worst one came against the New York Yankees, and he allowed one earned run on seven hits in 4.1 innings.
Means has allowed a total of seven earned runs in seven starts so far, enough for a sparkling 1.37 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP.
In his last start, Means totally handled the Seattle Mariners en route to the first no-hit, no run of his career.
In that outing, Means threw nine innings and didn’t allow any hits or walks, while striking out 12.
He was so dominant that the only reason why the game wasn’t an official perfect game is because a batter reached first base on a wild pitch after swinging to strike three.
¡John Means completó el 10mo NO-HITTER en la historia de @losOrioles! pic.twitter.com/hYgKUkHYHs
— LasMayores (@LasMayores) May 5, 2021
Armed with a low-90s fastball that he can get to the mid-90s if needed and a fantastic changeup, Means should be a dominant hurler for the rest of the season and is off to a legendary start.
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