Baseball America Prospect Report – August 14, 2018

Monday's Stars

Ronald Acuna, OF, Braves and Juan Soto, OF, Nationals. Acuna homered to lead off the first game of yesterday's doubleheader for the Braves and then homered again to lead off the nightcap. In the process, the 20-year-old became the youngest player in MLB history to homer in four consecutive games. He now has 17 home runs with the Braves, third most on the team despite the fact that he's played only 66 games. Not to be forgotten, Soto also homered yesterday for his 15th home run of the season.

At this point, the National League Rookie of the Year race still looks like Soto's to lose, although Acuna is trying to put together a very strong finishing kick. Marlins outfielder/third baseman Brian Anderson (.279/.359/.407) has played more games than either, but he trails far behind in slugging percentage. Giants righthander Dereck Rodriguez (6-1, 2.25) has a solid case himself. He's been a very effective starter for the Giants since June rolled around.

But when comparing Acuna and Soto, offensively there's no comparison. Acuna is having the kind of season that we expect from a 20-year-old prospect: plenty of power, few walks and a lot of highlights. What Soto is doing is unheard of from a 19-year-old. He's about 40 plate appearances away from qualifying for leaderboards, but if he keeps up his current pace, he'll rank fourth in the majors in on-base percentage when he does. His .421 on-base percentage trails only Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and Joey Votto, arguably the three best hitters in baseball right now. Votto, Trout, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Miguel Cabrera, Paul Goldschmidt, Shin-Soo Choo and Jose Bautista are the only players who have topped a .421 OBP in any season this decade.

His .547 slugging percentage is excellent and his .246 isolated power is exceptional for a rookie. But Soto's walk rate (17.1 percent) and his OBP are a cut above anything Acuna is doing. When the season is over, Soto will likely have posted the best-ever on-base percentage by a teenager, with the most walks and with the third or fourth most home runs ever hit in a season by a teenager.

In a normal year, Acuna would have a very strong case to be the NL Rookie of the Year. This year, Acuna's superior defense will be hard-pressed to make up for giving up nearly 70 points in on-base percentage and history.

Touki Toussaint, RHP, Braves. Toussaint had an excellent MLB debut, as he mowed down the Marlins lineup for six innings, allowing two hits and two walks on his way to allowing one run. He struck out four.

Sean Reid-Foley, RHP, Blue Jays. Reid-Foley's MLB debut was a little rockier. He worked five innings, allowing six hits, three walks and three runs while striking out three.

Kyle Isbel, CF, Royals. The Royals third-round pick out of UNLV has gotten off to a great start with low Class A Lexington. Isbel went 3-for-4 yesterday with a double. a home run, a walk and a stolen base. He's now hitting .325/.400/.506 with 11 steals in 12 tries over 22 games. Overall, he has 23 steals in 27 attempts in 47 games as a pro.

Austin Beck, OF, Athletics. Beck has steadily improved this season and is on pace to finish the year with a very respectable if unspectacular first full season as a pro. Beck went 3-for-4 yesterday with his 26th double and fourth triple of the season. He is now hitting .292/.332/.383 for low Class A Beloit. His lack of home run pop (one home run in 103 games) is surprising, but Beck has hit for average and has shown steady improvement.

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