Ronald Acuña, Jr. of the Atlanta Braves is off to a slow start this year. After the first game of today’s doubleheader, he is hitting just .253 with three home runs and 12 runs batted in. I know it’s early, but Acuña is on pace to have the most disappointing season by a player in the year immediately after having won his league’s Most Valuable Player Award since I began following baseball in 1966.

Without doing a detailed analysis, I have narrowed it down to four other MVP award winners who had substantially worse follow-up seasons. Zoilo Versalles of the Minnesota Twins was the American League MVP in 1965. The Twins won the pennant that year, and Versalles led the league in total bases (308), doubles, (45), triples (19), and runs scored (126); he also hit 19 home runs. He also won a Gold Glove as the league’s top defensive shortstop.

In 1966, Versalles hit just .249 with seven homers, 20 doubles, six triples, and scored 53 fewer runs. It was the beginning of a steep decline for Versalles, who was out of baseball at the age of 31 after the 1971 season.

Orlando Cepeda of the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals was the unanimous choice for NL MVP in 1967. He led the league in RBIs (111) and hit .325 with 25 home runs. The following season, Cepeda hit just .248 with 16 homers and 73 RBIs. It would be his last season in St. Louis, as the Cardinals traded him to Atlanta at the end of Spring Training the following year.

John Bench of the Cincinnati Reds was the National Leage MVP in 1970. He led the league with 45 homers and 148 RBIs while hitting .293 and playing Gold Glove defense behind the plate. He was a huge reason the Big Red Machine made it to the World Series that year.

But Bench struggled in 1971, hitting just .238. He hit 27 home runs but drove in just 61 runs; his on-base percentage dropped to .299. Bench rebounded in ‘72, again leading the league in homers (40) and RBIs (125) and won his second MVP award.

Joe Torre of the Cardinals was the NL MVP in 1971. He led the NL in hitting (.363), RBIs (137), hits (230), and total bases (352). Torre had a good season in 1972, hitting .289 with 11 home runs and 81 RBIs, but it was quite a drop-off from his previous season.

It also is worth noting that one could make the case that the four previous MVPs I’ve mentioned should not have won their awards. Versalles’ teammate Tony Oliva probably should have been the AL MVP in 1965. Henry Aaron of the Braves, Dick Allen of the Philadelphia Phillies, and Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates had better years in 1967 than did Cepeda. Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs, Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants, and Rico Carty of the Braves had better all-around seasons than Bench did in 1970, and Aaron probably should have been the NL MVP in 1971 as well.

In fairness to Acuña, it would be difficult for him, or anyone else, to match the season he had last year. He hit .337 with 41 homers, 106 RBIs, and led the major leagues with 73 stolen bases. Acuña also led the majors in on-base percentage (.416), hits (217), and runs scored (149). He was the unanimous choice for MVP in the National League, as he should have been.

Acuña has almost three-fourths of the season remaining to turn things around. I hope he does.

(All statistics are from Baseball Reference.)