(Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)
There are just a handful of players in MLB with the realistic potential to go 40-40.
Two come to mind: San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr.
The latter came very, very close in 2019, with 41 homers and 37 stolen bases.
He is so powerful and so fast that no one in the history of baseball matches his power-speed numbers over his first 537 career games.
“Ronald Acuña Jr. has 123 home runs and 119 stolen bases in his first 537 MLB games and no one’s ever done that before,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
Ronald Acuña Jr. has 123 home runs and 119 stolen bases in his first 537 MLB games and no one’s ever done that before. pic.twitter.com/mXHL8TfSKx
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 25, 2023
In 2023, it has been more of the same: Acuna is on fire, and his numbers don’t lie.
He needs to pick up the pace in the power department a bit since he has three home runs, but he is already up to 12 (!) stolen bases.
No star player has taken more advantage of the bigger bases implemented this season than Acuna.
For the year, he is hitting .358/.440/.537 with the three round-trippers, 20 runs scored, 11 RBI, and a 167 wRC+ (100 is league average offensive performance) in 23 games and 109 plate appearances.
He has been a beast.
He hit “just” 15 long balls last year, but had 24 in just 82 games the year before.
He is more than capable of going crazy for a few weeks to catch up.
Acuna is carrying the Braves to the best record in the tough NL East division.
They lead it at 15-8.
Even if he can’t quite recover his best power stroke, there is nothing wrong about a 20-40 season, which is where he seems headed, and the Braves certainly wouldn’t complain if that’s the case.
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