Their own competition: Which Braves will set personal bests this season?

Several Atlanta Braves position players have already met or exceeded personal bests at the plate this season

It is well-known that the Atlanta Braves lead almost every major hitting category in baseball: homers, average, hits, RBI, to name a few. This is one of the best offenses in Braves history, and several individuals on this team are putting together career years and are set to surpass career marks.

It’s getting to the point where it’s almost unfair to compare this lineup to others, unless you’re comparing the bottom of the Braves lineup to other team’s top hitters. So, I thought I’d compare them to themselves.

From one to nine, this 2023 Braves line up flat out hits the ball hard. In fact, five guys in the starting lineup have hit the hardest balls of their career this season: Ronald Acuña Jr (121.2 MPH; hardest-hit ball in the MLB this season), Matt Olson (118.6 MPH), Austin Riley (116.1 MPH), Eddie Rosario (110.4 MPH) and Sean Murphy (114.7 MPH).

But that is just the start of the year of bests for Atlanta this season. Here are some Braves hitters who already have or are looking to surpass career marks.

Home Run Kings

Three Atlanta sluggers have already set career bests in homers. Olson’s career-high 44 is tied with Shohei Ohtani for the MLB lead, and Orlando Arcia’s 17 and Murphy’s 20 dingers are both personal bests.

Atlanta’s MLB-leading fifth hitter with over 25 homers, Ozzie Albies, is two dingers away from his career best of 30, which he set in 2021 en route to winning a Silver Slugger award. He is on pace for about 34 homers, although he hasn’t hit one since coming off the IL, so his last bomb was on August 12.

After setting his personal best with 38 homers in 2022, Austin Riley is on pace to match that total. Like Marcell Ozuna, he has 32 home runs. But Ozuna’s career-high is 37 in 2017 with the Marlins. He has already hit his second-most homers in his 11-year career and has eight in his last 12 games, so hitting six more in 26 games to set a personal record seems probable.

Michael Harris, Rosario and Acuña are the only starters not projected to surpass their single-season home run record, but Harris only trails his rookie year total of 19 by six. With Acuña hitting three homers in the Dodgers series, he sits at 32 homers – nine shy of his 2019 total.

MVP Candidates

Both in the top five in the NL MVP race, Acuña and Olson are shattering personal records left and right.

Olson not only has his most ever homers in a season, 112 RBI this season is already his career high. In the eighth year of his career, Olson also has a personal best three triples and .373 OBP. His .581 slugging percentage and .953 OPS are also his best in a full season. He’s on pace to break his personal bests in hits (needs 17 more) and walks (needs two more).

It would be fair to say Acuña’s 2023 season will go down as one of the best ever. If he doesn’t reach his homer total, it might be the only thing he doesn’t set a personal record in. He already has his personal best in hits (leads MLB with 184), extra-base hits (67) and steals (leads MLB with 63), and he’s working on his highest average (.335), OPS (.994), BB/K (0.95) and WAR (7.0). He’s on pace to match his 2021 total of 101 RBI, while surpassing his highs in walks (needs six more) and runs (needs five more).

Bottom feeders?

Arcia and Harris have occupied the bottom two spots of the lineup throughout the majority of the season, but their success has been crucial to Atlanta’s dominance this year.

In a breakout season where he garnered his first All-Star appearance, Arcia already has his most homers (17), runs (57), and doubles (18) in a single season in his nine-year career. His .280 average and .334/.450/.785 batting line are all career highs, while he is on pace to eclipse his career highs in RBI (needs five more) and finish just below his total of 140 hits in 2017 (currently has 113).

Harris has gone through growing pains at times in his sophomore season, but his next stolen base will set a new personal best, as he currently sits at 20. His next game will be his 114th this season, the same amount he played in his Rookie of the Year campaign. He sits with as many triples as last year (three) and already has his career high in walks (25) and an improved BB/K (0.30). He is also on pace to surmount his total in hits (needs seven more) and doubles (needs five more).

The Newcomer

In his first year in Atlanta, Murphy is also finishing off his first All-Star campaign and already has personal bests in homers (20), RBI (67) and HBP (17) in 95 games. Despite sharing time with Travis D’Arnaud, Murphy is also set to surpass his career best in runs (needs eight more), while he has his best average (.268) and WAR (3.7) in his fifth year in the big leagues. His .377/.515/.893 batting line is also his best in a full season (disqualifying 2019, when he played 20 games).

Looking Forward

These sluggers have 26 more games to chase down personal bests this season. While Acuña, Olson and Riley have played all 136 games this season, Arcia, Ozuna and Albies are also everyday players when healthy. Murphy will continue to split time behind the dish, and Atlanta might choose to rest some guys down the stretch with a commanding division lead.

If two personal bests look most feasible to be surmounted, it’s Albies’ 30 homers and Acuña’s 127 runs. However, Olson’s chase to 154 hits and Ozuna’s chase for 38 homers are two intriguing races to watch for in the final month of the regular season.

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