5 Braves earn All-MLB honors after 104-win season

ATLANTA -- Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley and Spencer Strider headline the list of five Braves elected to this year’s All-MLB Team.

Acuña, Riley and Strider earned First Team selections at their respective positions. Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies were elected to the Second Team. The announcement was made Saturday night during MLB Network’s All-MLB Team Show presented by MGM Rewards.

• Past All-MLB winners

It certainly wasn’t surprising to see the Braves so well represented after producing an MLB-best 104 wins. Fan voting accounted for half of the selection process, with the other 50% coming from a decorated panel of media members, broadcasters, former players and other officials throughout the game. Votes were based on regular-season performance.

Acuña produced one of the game’s most incredible seasons, as he became the first player to hit 40-plus homers and tally 70-plus stolen bases in the same season. He earned his first NL MVP Award after hitting .337 with 41 home runs, 217 hits, 80 extra-base hits, 106 RBIs, 149 runs, a 1.012 OPS and 84 strikeouts.

He joined Lou Gehrig (1927), Chuck Klein ('30) and Joe DiMaggio ('37) as the only players to hit at least .335 with 40 home runs, 215 hits, 80 extra-base hits, 100 RBIs, 145 runs and a 1.000 OPS with fewer than 90 strikeouts.

Mookie Betts (Dodgers) and Corbin Carroll (D-backs) were the other First Team outfielders. Aaron Judge (Yankees), Adolis García (Rangers) and Kyle Tucker (Astros) earned Second Team outfielder honors. This was Acuña’s first career First Team selection. He was a Second Team selection in 2019 and '20.

Riley led all MLB third basemen with 5.2 fWAR. He recorded his third straight 30-homer season and hit .281 with 37 homers and a .861 OPS. He was also the First Team third baseman in 2021.

José Ramírez (Guardians) was elected the Second Team third baseman.

Strider was the Majors’ only 20-game winner this year, and his franchise-record 281 strikeouts were 44 more than any other Major Leaguer. His 36.8% strikeout rate ranks fourth all time among pitchers with at least 180 innings in a season. Those ahead of him are Gerrit Cole (39.9 in 2019) Pedro Martinez (37.5 in 1999) and Randy Johnson (37.4 in 2001).

The other First Team pitchers were Cole (Yankees), Zac Gallen (D-backs), Blake Snell (Padres) and Shohei Ohtani (Angels).

Olson led the Majors and set Modern Era franchise records with 54 homers and 139 RBIs. He also led the NL with a .604 slugging percentage.

Freddie Freeman (Dodgers) was elected the First Team first baseman.

Albies hit 33 homers and produced a .849 OPS. This was the 26-year-old switch-hitter’s second 30-homer season.

Marcus Semien (Rangers) was elected the First Team second baseman.