Braves Put Multiple Hitters on First National League MVP Poll of Season

One Atlanta Braves player has been among the best hitters in all of baseball so far

Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna leads all of baseball in home runs, having hit nine in the season's first twenty-one games. / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves have one of the best records in baseball at 15-6 , good for a .714 winning percentage. 

It’s being powered by an offense that remains as one of the best in baseball despite not getting lots of power production from the stars at the top of the order. 

And that offense is being recognized in MLB.com’s first MVP poll of the season, with multiple Braves hitters placing in the first straw poll. Ronald Acuña Jr, as the reigning MVP and among the tops of the leaderboard for stolen bases, is sitting in third place, receiving two first-place votes, but there’s one more Brave on the board: 

Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, who received one first-place vote to come in 4th in the first MVP poll. 

Jason Foster, MLB.com reporter who polled 45 different MLB.com experts, wrote up Ozuna’s exceptional start to the season (all stats through Sunday): 

Ozuna has been on quite a heater since last May. After a very poor start to 2023 that saw him produce a wRC+ of just 10 through May 1, Ozuna has become one of baseball's most feared hitters.
Through 20 games this season, Ozuna leads baseball with nine homers, 27 RBIs, a .713 slugging percentage and a 1.117 OPS – picking up where he left off in 2023, when he finished with 40 homers and 100 RBIs after that slow start. But then, these are the types of things that happen when a hitter consistently stings the ball like Ozuna.
He rates in MLB's top 1 percent or better in expected batting (.389) and expected slugging (.810), and his 92.2 mph average exit velocity is the highest it's been in four seasons. And his barrel rate? It's 19.7 percent, easily the highest of his career. It's all made Ozuna a major contributor to the Braves' MLB-leading .828 team OPS.

The 33-year-old Ozuna has been the driving force behind Atlanta’s offensive excellence this season, but his hot streak extends longer than just 2024 - after that disastrous start to the season Foster referenced, Ozuna’s been one of the best hitters in all of baseball. Since May 1st of 2023, a 147-game sample, Ozuna has batted .301/.371/.616 with 47 homers and 125 RBIs.

Also receiving down-ballot votes in MLB.com’s poll were shortstop Orlando Arcia, who is currently batting .338/.369/.494, and first baseman Matt Olson, who is mired in a 1-23 slump with 10 strikeouts that has dropped his batting average to .222