No player in MLB history has hit as many home runs and stolen as many bases this season as Ronald Acuña Jr. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) (Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images)
Ronald Acuña Jr. last month became the first member of the MLB club with 30 home runs and 60 stolen bases. Then last week he founded the 40-60 Club.
You can probably guess where this is going.
The Atlanta Braves star stole his 70th base of the season, becoming the first player in MLB history to post a 40-70 season, by grabbing the sack in the 10th inning against the Chicago Cubs.
Acuña reached base by tying the game with an opposing single and scoring the extra-innings runner. He stole the bag on the next pitch and then celebrated by pulling second base out of the ground and lifting it over his head as Braves fans gave him a standing ovation:
The moment ended a tense situation for the Cubs, who are currently fighting for their survival in the playoff race and are now tied with the Miami Marlins for the third NL wild card spot. Of course, the team had itself primarily to blame after blowing the lead in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings, a day after Seiya Suzuki’s game-winning fumble.
The next batter, Ozzie Albies, ended the game on the following pitch with a line-drive single to right for a 6-5 walk-off win.
The win was a notable victory for the 102-58 Braves as it gave them the best record in the National League, 4.5 games ahead of the 97-60 Dodgers. The 99-59 Baltimore Orioles are the only remaining team in the AL that could retain home-field advantage in a hypothetical World Series.
Acuña, the current favorite for NL MVP honors, was obviously instrumental in those 102 wins. His stolen base total was improved by recent MLB rule changes that limited pickoff moves and extended the bases, yes, but his 2023 season was still one of the best power-speed combinations in MLB history.
This type of season is so unprecedented that none of the other players who had a 40-40 season – Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998) and Alfonso Soriano (2006) – scored 50 bases 70 alone.
With Acuña finishing first and likely winning the MVP, all that’s left for him to do is contend for his first career World Series appearance. The Braves begin their playoff campaign in the NLDS against the winner of the wild card series between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds, currently the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves.