Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is Sporting News' 2018 NL Rookie of the Year, as selected by a panel of 192 NL players. SN has given out Rookie of the Year awards since 1946.

As the Braves soaked each other with champagne and beer in late September to celebrate a surprising division title, outfielder Lane Adams got the attention of a reporter who was recording the scene on his phone.

“Hey!” Adams shouted, putting one arm around rookie Ronald Acuña Jr. and using the other, with beer still in hand, to emphatically gesture toward the youngster.

“Rookie of the Year!” Adams exclaimed repeatedly, dousing Acuña with bubbly. “Rookie of the Year!”

Turns out, that feeling was widespread.

MORE: Braves showed from the start how they would surprise

In a 2018 season that was full of surprises for the Braves, one thing went just as planned: Ronald Acuña Jr. became a superstar.

Despite not arriving in the majors until April 25 and later missing a full month with a knee injury, the 20-year-old Acuña proved in the end to be just as advertised, producing a .293 average, .366 on-base percentage, 26 home runs, a .917 OPS and 4.1 bWAR.

His elite combination of power, on-base ability, speed and defense made him an obvious standout among his peers, who overwhelmingly voted Acuña the 2018 Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year. In a September survey of National League players, Acuña received 72 percent of the vote for the rookie honor, far outpacing the rest of the NL rookie class.

“He’s meant the world to our club. I think the energy that he plays with, the excitement that he creates, his skill set, talent level — the whole thing has just been a big boost for us,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Acuña during the NLDS. “When he comes to the plate, he's one of those guys you don't want to miss because he might do something really special.”

Though almost nobody doubted Acuña's ability to excel in the majors — and though he showed early flashes of the elite play that had been predicted — it wasn’t until the second half that he consistently wowed the league and managed to amaze on a seemingly nightly basis.

After Snitker moved him to the lead-off spot at midseason, Acuña responded by hitting eight lead-off home runs — setting a team record — and became the youngest player in MLB history to homer in five straight games. Overall in the lead-off spot, Acuña carried a .409 on-base percentage with 19 homers and a 1.042 OPS.

That production was a big reason why the Braves surged into the lead in the NL East and ended up winning the division by eight games.

“When he moved into a leadoff role, that was a pretty huge swing of events for us. He led off the game with all those home runs,” catcher Kurt Suzuki said. “Just that youthful energy that he brings … kind of ignites us a little bit. It's really important to our team. We definitely were very happy when he arrived.”

MORE: Braves agree to two-year extension with manager Brian Snitker

Major league baseball is often a game of adjustments for young players, even supremely talanted ones. Acuña was no different. In the weeks after his call-up, he produced just a .290 OBP and a .388 slugging percentage in May as the league adjusted. He spent nearly all of June on the disabled list, but July brought gradual improvement at the plate as Acuña adjusted back. Then, when the calendar turned to August, he showed that he’d be just fine, despite his young age.

“You don’t surprise anybody anymore. When those guys come up, there’s already video on them. There’s already things that the opposition is plotting to attack them with. So you never really know how they’re going to adjust to all that,” Snitker said. “Ronald, to his credit, he came up and he’s made some mechanical and mental adjustments in his approach. To his credit, he did it in a hurry.”

The Braves and their fans knew that Acuña was likely to be a key component in any success the team had post-rebuild, and all got confirmation fairly quickly that their hopes were realized. Now, with the rebuild completed a year sooner than expected, the long-term forecast for Acuña — and the Braves, for that matter — is one of pure excitement.

“He's pretty incredible,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said, “and everybody is starting to get to see it.”

Acuña is the 11th Braves player to be named Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and the first since Craig Kimbrel in 2011.

SN correspondent Joseph D’Hippolito contributed.

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VOTING RESULTS

1. Ronald Acuña, Braves: 138

2. Juan Soto, Nationals: 39

3. Brian Anderson, Marlins: 7

4. Jack Flaherty, Cardinals: 7

5. Walker Buehler, Dodgers: 1

THIS WEEK’S SN AWARD SCHEDULE

Monday: Rookies of the Year (AL and NL)

Tuesday: Comeback Players of the Year (AL and NL) and Managers of the Year (AL and NL)

Wednesday: AL All-Star Team | NL All-Star Team

Thursday: MLB Player of the Year