Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. Earns Place in History Alongside Rickey Henderson
Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. just can't stop making history.
In Sunday night's game against the New York Mets, Acuña went 2-for-5 with a run and a stolen base. Acuña, who is still in pursuit of the league's first 40-40 season in 17 years, is now up to 26 home runs and 55 stolen bases on the season.
According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Acuña has now put together the eighth 25-home run, 55-stolen base season in MLB history. The last player to accomplish the feat was Oakland Athletics outfielder Rickey Henderson, who did it in 1990.
Henderson recorded another 25-55 season with the New York Yankees in 1986.
The Braves, despite outscoring the Mets 34-3 in the first three games of the weekend series, were unable to complete the four-game sweep Sunday. Acuña had a chance to spark a two-out rally in the top of the ninth, with Atlanta down by one, but he grounded out to end the game.
Acuña is now batting .337 with a .995 OPS this year, putting him in the driver's seat in the NL MVP race. The 2018 NL Rookie of the Year, four-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger has already racked up a career-high 5.9 WAR just 117 games into the 2023 season.
The 25-year-old ranks No. 2 in stolen bases and No. 20 in home runs since entering the league.
Acuña and the first-place Braves open up a three-game series against the Yankees on Monday, returning home for a 7:20 p.m. ET first pitch.
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