After the first few months of the 2023 season, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. was almost a lock to win his first MVP award.
He was playing on a 40-homer, 80-steals pace at one point, and the only player in the National League who could compete with him was fellow Venezuelan Luis Arraez, who was flirting with a .400 batting average before the start of the summer.
Then, Acuna slowed down the pace some and three other players entered the race: his teammate Matt Olson and Los Angeles Dodgers stars Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
It was a four-man race until very recently, but then Betts started to separate from the pack until this past weekend.
The Dodgers and Braves, the two best organizations in MLB, collided from Thursday to Sunday in a star-studded matchup.
Acuna took over the weekend and lifted his team to three victories in the four games in LA.
He hit three home runs and stole two bases, and became the first player in the history of the game to log a 30-60 season (30 dingers, 60 thefts).
Now, the two men look closer than ever in the quest for becoming the MVP in the National League.
Codify Baseball posted a revealing graphic via Twitter, highlighting how tight the race is.
Think the NL MVP race is over? Not quite yet. pic.twitter.com/YMkoMdzv1e
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 4, 2023
Betts has the WAR advantage, and also leads in homers, RBI, slugging percentage, and OPS.
Acuna, on the other hand, has the edge in hits, stolen bases, batting average, and OBP.
However, as the graphic suggests, both are very, very close to each other in most categories except in steals.
Nothing is set in stone at this point, and we would even say that there isn’t a favorite.
The remaining games will determine who takes home the prestigious award.
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