Ronald Acuña Jr, Brian Snitker among BBWAA Award finalists, Matt Olson snubbed

The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the top 3 finalists for each of their major awards Monday night on MLB Network. The Atlanta Braves have two finalists in Ronald Acuña Jr. and manager Brian Snitker. Acuña is a finalist for the MVP Award while Snitker is once again a candidate for Manager of the Year.

Acuña put together a banner season at the plate hitting .337/.416/.596 with a 170 wRC+ in 159 games. He became the fifth player ever to have at least 40 homers and 40 stolen bases and was the first player in major league history to ever go 40/70. He set a modern day Braves franchise record with 149 runs scored and his 73 stolen bases were also a modern day club record surpassing Otis Nixon’s 72 in 1991.

Snitker helped guide the Braves to a sixth straight division title and helped lead the Braves to 104 wins. Snitker won the award back in 2018 and finished third in 2019 and 2022.

One player missing from this list is Matt Olson. A decade or so ago, Olson would have been the runaway favorite for the MVP Award after leading the majors with 54 home runs and 139 RBI. However, Olson is on the outside looking in as the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are finalists along with Acuña.

The Manager of the Year award will be given out on November 14 at 6 p.m on MLB Network. ET. The winners of the MVP Award will be revealed on November 16 also at 6 p.m. ET.

National League

Rookie of the Year - Corbin Carroll, Kodai Senga, James Outman

Manager of the Year - Craig Counsell, Skip Shumaker, Brian Snitker

Cy Young Award - Zac Gallen, Blake Snell, Logan Webb

MVP Award - Ronald Acuña Jr., Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman

American League

Rookie of the Year - Tanner Bibee, Triston Casas, Gunnar Henderson

Manager of the Year - Brandon Hyde, Kevin Cash, Bruce Bochy

Cy Young Award - Gerrit Cole, Kevin Gausman, Sonny Gray

MVP Award - Shohei Ohtani, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien