Placing 19-Year-Old Ronald Acuna’s Season In Context

Rarely does a teenage position player spend significant time above Class A. More rare still is the teen who excels at Double-A, Triple-A or the big leagues.

Braves center fielder Ronald Acuna, who doesn’t turn 20 until December, joined select company this season when he accumulated 486 plate appearances at Double-A and Triple-A as a teenager, all while producing at a rate seldom seen by his peer group.

According to research conducted by Baseball America, Acuna became the 29th teenage position player since 1987 to excel in the minors while batting at least 200 times above the Class A level. The word “excel” is key. While dozens of 19-year-olds have batted 200 times at Double-A or higher in the past three decades, just the 29 referenced previously outperformed the league average batter by at least 10 percent, as measured by adjusted OPS+*, an estimate of batting proficiency.

Four additional 19-year-olds spent more time in the majors than in the minors: Ken Griffey Jr.** (108 OPS+ in 1989), Ivan Rodriguez (75 in 1991), Edgar Renteria (103 in 1996) and Bryce Harper (118 in 2012). All four players garnered support in major league Rookie of the Year balloting—with Harper winning—so that quartet is omitted from the following sample in favor of challengers for the BA Minor League Player of the Year award.

Below are the 29 teenage minor leaguers with at least 200 PA above Class A who recorded an adjusted OPS+ of 110 or higher since 1987. Players are ranked by overall minor league OPS+. All players were 19 years old except for Alex Rodriguez, who was 18 in 1994 when he played at Double-A, Triple-A and the majors.

				High-A		Double-A		Triple-A		Minors
Player	Pos	Org	Year	PA	OPS+	PA	OPS+	PA	OPS+	PA	OPS+
Andruw Jones^	OF	Braves	1996	289	181	176	195	46	209	511	188
Gary Sheffield	SS	Brewers	1988	—	—	343	172	244	176	587	174
Alex Rodriguez	SS	Mariners	1995	—	—	—	—	237	172	237	172
Jason Heyward^	OF	Braves	2009	214	148	195	195	13	133	422	169
Gregg Jefferies^	SS	Mets	1987	—	—	570	165	—	—	570	165
Justin Upton	OF	D-backs	2007	150	153	306	161	—	—	456	158
Alex Rodriguez@	SS	Mariners	1994	—	—	69	138	128	129	475	157
Mike Trout^	OF	Angels	2011	—	—	412	156	—	—	412	156
Ronald Acuna	OF	Braves	2017	126	138	243	158	243	160	612	155
Adrian Beltre	3B	Dodgers	1998	—	—	292	151	—	—	292	151
Joel Guzman	SS	Dodgers	2004	357	153	200	130	—	—	557	145
Melvin Upton	SS	Rays	2004	—	—	120	142	313	143	433	143
Dioner Navarro	C	Yankees	2003	221	146	233	134	—	—	454	140
Giancarlo Stanton	OF	Marlins	2009	210	180	341	113	—	—	551	139
Delmon Young^	OF	Rays	2005	—	—	370	162	234	95	604	136
Karim Garcia	OF	Dodgers	1995	—	—	—	—	519	134	519	134
Juan Gonzalez	OF	Rangers	1989	—	—	547	133	—	—	547	133
Daric Barton	1B	Athletics	2005	361	126	249	142	—	—	610	133
Wilson Betemit	SS	Braves	2001	346	117	199	151	—	—	545	129
Jurickson Profar	SS	Rangers	2012	—	—	562	129	—	—	562	129
Jake Bauers	1B	Rays	2015	249	143	285	109	—	—	534	125
Sean Burroughs	3B	Padres	2000	—	—	461	124	—	—	461	124
Ozzie Albies	2B	Braves	2016	—	—	371	150	247	84	618	124
Roberto Alomar	SS	Padres	1987	—	—	595	122	—	—	595	122
Jose Reyes	SS	Mets	2002	327	133	295	106	—	—	622	120
Chad Hermansen	OF	Pirates	1997	—	—	571	118	—	—	571	118
Manny Machado	SS	Orioles	2012	—	—	459	118	—	—	459	118
Adam Jones	OF	Mariners	2005	315	114	228	121	—	—	543	117
Carlos Baerga	SS	Padres	1988	—	—	487	111	—	—	487	111
^ Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year
@ Also counting toward A-Rod’s total: 278 PA at low Class A worth 174 OPS+

The names surrounding Acuna in the top 10 speak to his level of achievement this season as a 19-year-old. His .325/.374/.522 batting line with 21 home runs and 44 stolen bases in 139 games at high Class A Florida, Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett translates to a 155 OPS+, which ranks ninth among teen batters with at least 200 PA above Class A in the past three decades.

What also is striking is the number of Braves prospects who qualify for the leaderboard. Five are included here: center fielder Andruw Jones in 1996, shortstop Wilson Betemit in 2001, right fielder Jason Heyward in 2009, second baseman Ozzie Albies in 2016 and Acuna in 2017. Additionally, first baseman Freddie Freeman in 2009 missed qualifying for the list by about 30 PA.

The following 10 players were most similar to Acuna at the same stage of their careers, based on the volume of each player’s excellence at Double-A and/or Triple-A.

1. Alex Rodriguez, SS, Mariners (1995)

A-Rod entered the 1995 season ranked as the game’s No. 1 overall prospect after playing at three minor league levels, plus Seattle for 17 games, the preceding year. He delivered on that promise by hitting .360/.411/.654 (172 OPS+) with 15 home runs in 54 games at Triple-A Tacoma interrupted by two callups to the majors.

2. Gary Sheffield, SS/3B, Brewers (1988)

Sheffield shredded pitchers at both Double-A El Paso and Triple-A Denver on his way to a 24-game September callup. In the minors that season he hit .327/.395/.579 (174 OPS+) with 28 home runs in 134 games—though adjusting for those hitter-friendly ballparks would take some air out of his final line.

3. Andruw Jones, OF, Braves (1996)

The No. 1 prospect in baseball entering the 1996 season, Jones soared from high Class A Durham to Double-A Greenville to Triple-A Richmond to Atlanta that season. In the minors he batted .339/.421/.652 (188 OPS+) with 34 home runs and 30 stolen bases in 116 games, earning a mid-August callup.

4. Gregg Jefferies, SS/3B, Mets (1987)

A two-time Minor League POY in 1986 and 1987, Jefferies in the latter season hit .367/.423/.598 (165 OPS+) with 20 home runs and 48 doubles in 134 games at Double-A Jackson. While his defensive limitations forced a move to first base in the majors, he enjoyed a pair of all-star seasons with the 1993 and 1994 Cardinals.

5. Jason Heyward, OF, Braves (2009)

Though he hasn’t made good on his $184 million deal with the Cubs, Heyward enjoyed six productive seasons at the start of his big league career. He entered 2010 as the No. 1 prospect in the game after he hit .323/.408/.555 (169 OPS+) with 17 home runs in 99 games the year before at high Class A Myrtle Beach, Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett.

6. Mike Trout, OF, Angels (2011)

Trout won the Minor League POY award in 2011 for batting .326/.414/.544 (156 OPS+) with 11 home runs and 33 stolen bases in 91 games at Double-A Arkansas, a performance that earned him a pair of callups to the Angels. What it didn’t earn him was the No. 1 spot on the Top 100 Prospects list in 2012. That went to Bryce Harper.

7. Melvin Upton, SS, Rays (2004)

While Upton has been only sporadically excellent in a 12-year big league career, the No. 2 overall pick in 2002 excelled at Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham in 2004, batting .315/.410/.505 (143 OPS+) with 14 home runs in 98 games. Tampa Bay called him up on Aug. 2 and he appeared in 45 big league games as a teenager. A switch from shortstop to center field followed in 2007.

8. Justin Upton, OF, Diamondbacks (2007)

Upton’s remarkable 2007 season concluded with 43 games in Arizona for the playoff-bound D-backs, but it began at high Class A Visalia and continued at Double-A Mobile prior to his Aug. 2 callup. In the minors that season he hit .319/.410/.551 (158 OPS+) with 18 home runs in 103 games.

9. Adrian Beltre, 3B, Dodgers (1998)

An 18-year-old Beltre nearly won the Florida State League triple crown in 1997, and he entered 1998 ranked No. 3 on the Top 100 Prospects behind only Ben Grieve and Paul Konerko. He then batted .321/.411/.581 (151 OPS+) with 13 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 64 games at Double-A San Antonio in 1998, prompting a second-half callup to the Dodgers.

10. Delmon Young, OF, Rays (2005)

Young could do no wrong early in his pro career, and he aced his first test of the high minors in 2005. That season he batted .315/.354/.527 with 26 home runs and 32 stolen bases in 136 games at Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham to win Minor League POY honors. That performance made Young the No. 1 prospect in baseball heading into 2006, when his career showed the first signs of unraveling. That season he earned a 50-game suspension for throwing a bat at a minor league umpire.

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* Adjusted OPS+ in this piece is not adjusted for players’ home ballparks, because that data is unavailable prior to the 2005 season.

** Griffey famously didn’t spend a day in the minors as a 19-year-old Mariners rookie in 1989. The previous season he batted .325/.415/.557 in 75 games at high Class A San Bernardino and Double-A Vermont. That translates to a 179 OPS+, meaning the 18-year-old Griffey was nearly 80 percent more productive than the average California or Eastern league batter.