Probably not, but…
Ronald Acuña Jr. had a single and a homer in five trips to the plate yesterday. A .400/.400/1.000 line is pretty swanky for any day of the week, but guess what? It actually lowered his OBP, which was .504 coming into the game, down to an even .500.
In 28 games so far, Acuña has reached base at least half the time in 17 of them, which is mind-blowing. At one point, he had an eight-game stretch with a .686 OBP. He’s had literally one game all year where he failed to reach safely, and that was sandwiched in between a couple of two-hit games (where he homered and had a walk in one).
No one really talks about a .500 OBP because it’s so rare, and possibly because the only guy who managed it since the fabled 1957 season where both Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle did it was Barry Bonds (for four straight years, 2001-2004), which makes it kind of unsavory. And, look, I’m not saying Acuña is going to — the closest anyone’s come in the last decade was Juan Soto’s .465 in 2021, which is way closer to .450 than .500, but wouldn’t it be cool? (Aaron Judge has a .468 OBP right now.)
The sheer unlikeliness of it is just one thing in Acuña’s way, though. He also has “just” a .411 xOBP; his batting line in general is propped up by the fact that he’s gotten very fortunate to have a number of his grounders get through. He’s also been pretty passive in the zone so far, which has helped extend PAs; as that reverts a bit back to his norms (unless the Braves’ brainrot penetrates deeply, I guess) you’ll probably see a bit more pop and a bit less OBP, too — which could be a good trade (or not, depends on the specifics) but won’t be quite so useful for the .500 OBP chase.
Daily Notes
Record: 36-41
Yesterday’s wOBA and xwOBA: .336 / .373 (Season rank: 17th / 12th)
Yesterday’s opponent wOBA and xwOBA: .218 / .282 (Season rank: 10th / 10th)
Yesterday’s homers: 1
Yesterday’s homers allowed: 1
Record when out-xwOBAing: 25-16 (League: 848-311)
Record when out-xwOBAed: 11-25 (League: 311-848)
Record when out-wOBAing: 31-7 (League: 977-185)
Record when out-wOBAed: 5-34 (League: 185-977)
Record when outhomering: 19-7 (League: 635-178)
Record when outhomered: 6-21 (League: 178-635)