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Atlanta News First, Atlanta, Georgia Ahead of the 2025 season, Chris Sale and Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves are ranked first in MLB Network’s top 100.
Acuna was ranked No. 16 and Sale was ranked No. 20 on the list that revealed spots 11–20 on Wednesday. Among starting pitchers in the 11–20 list, Sale was behind Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal (No. 11), Pittsburgh Pirates’ Paul Skenes (No. 15), and Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler (No. 19). Shohei Ohtani, the two-way standout for the Los Angeles Dodgers, took first place in the rankings after a historic MVP season in which he became the first player to achieve a 50-50 season in 2024.
Acuna, who finished 2024 with just 49 games played before injuring his left ACL and finishing the season, was ranked higher than some of the best outfielders in Major League Baseball. In 2023, Acuna became the first player to record 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases in a season, earning him his first NL MVP Award. Two years before to this feat, he had missed the second part of the 2021 season due to a torn right ACL.
As the squad looks to 2025, he has already had two ACL reconstructive procedures. However, that appears to have no bearing on what is expected of him. Acuna is expected to slash.291/.379/.509 with 26 home runs and 73 RBIs, despite missing Opening Day and around a month of the regular season, according to Fangraphs.
In contrast, Sale just had the finest season of his 14-year career, winning the NL Cy Young Award with 225 strikeouts in 177.2 innings pitched and a 2.38 ERA.
Sale finished the regular season with a 3.07 ERA and 230 strikeouts in 187 innings pitched in 31 starts, according to FanGraphs.
Numerous additional Braves are in the top 100 in MLB.
There were more Braves that were regarded among the top in MLB besides Acuna and Sale.
Atlanta’s players in MLB’s top 100 were completed by designated hitter Marcell Ozuna (No. 47), infielders Austin Riley (No. 33) and Matt Olson (No. 34), and outfielders Michael Harris II (No. 67) and Jurickson Profar (No. 84).
Riley and Olson were ranked Nos. 15 and 13, respectively, on MLB’s 2024 top 100 list. However, Riley’s injury-plagued 2024 season saw him post just 19 home runs and 56 RBIs. Before that, Riley was hitting 36 home runs and 99 RBIs a season on average.
Olson finished fourth in the MVP vote and won a Silver Slugger Award at first base for Atlanta in 2023, leading the major leagues with 54 home runs and 139 RBIs. Even if Olson’s 2024 season, in which he hit 29 home runs and 98 RBIs, didn’t exactly duplicate that success, his steadiness persisted. Olson has participated in 620 straight games since 2021.
Ozuna finished fourth in the 2024 MVP vote after smashing 39 home runs and 104 RBIs. Ozuna is predicted to end the 2025 season with 32 home runs and 95 RBIs, although his power stats should stay high despite a dip in performance.
Harris and Profar, who just inked a three-year, $42 million contract with the team, complete Atlanta’s soon-to-be starting outfield in MLB’s top 100 along with Acuna.
Following a disappointing season in which the 2022 Rookie of the Year hit career lows of.264/.304/.418 in 110 games, Harris is predicted to rebound with career highs in home runs (25) and RBIs (81) while establishing himself as a dangerous 25-25 threat (25 home runs and 25 steals).
After finishing the finest season of his career in 2024, hitting.280 with 24 home runs and 85 RBIs with San Diego, Profar—once the No. 1 overall prospect in the Texas Rangers system—was rewarded with the largest deal of his career with Atlanta.
On March 27, the Braves play the Padres in a four-game series in San Diego to start the regular season. On April 4, Atlanta will play the Miami Marlins at home.
