How many baseball players are better than the Braves’ Ronald Acuna?
Eleven, according to MLB Network.
The all-baseball-all-the-time cable channel Thursday night ranked the Braves outfielder No. 12 on its list of the game's overall "Top 100 Players Right Now."
Here are the players ranked ahead of Acuna by the network: No. 1 Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels outfielder; No. 2 Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder; No. 3 Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder; No. 4 Mookie Betts, Dodgers outfielder; No. 5 Alex Bregman, Houston Astros third baseman; No. 6 Anthony Rendon, Angels third baseman; No. 7 Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees pitcher; No. 8 Jacob deGrom, New York Mets pitcher; No. 9 Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies third baseman; No. 10 Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians shortstop; and No. 11 Juan Soto, Washington Nationals outfielder.
Let the debates begin.
The ranking of Soto one spot ahead of Acuna continues the inevitable comparisons between the two young NL East stars.
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Three other Braves players were ranked in the top 100: first baseman Freddie Freeman at No. 15, second baseman Ozzie Albies at No. 55 and pitcher Mike Soroka at No. 67.
The rankings were described as the result of statistical and scouting analysis by MLB Network's production and research staff. The formula was different than that used by the network for its earlier ranking of the top 10 players at each position.
