In case you’ve been living under a rock, Ronald Acuña Jr. has separated himself in the NL MVP race, and it’s only been 31 games. He’s fresh off the NL Player of the Month award and is showing no signs of slowing down. Last night, he cracked his sixth homer of the season, a moonshot to centerfield that traveled 461 feet.
Ronald Acuña Jr. hit this ball 461 feet (!!) a couple days after hitting a ball 448 feet.
He's back. pic.twitter.com/xLYOFyBYxg
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) May 4, 2023
This comes after Acuña blasted a 448-foot homer against the Mets a couple of days ago at Citi Field. He now has six taters in 31 games, putting him at a 31 homer pace for the season. That’s just shy of 40, but given the sample size, it will only take him a brief hot stretch to put him back on track, something he’s clearly capable of.
In regards to stolen bases, Acuña is on pace to shatter 40. The new rules are allowing base runners to run wild, and he’s taking full advantage, leading the league with 14 steals. That puts him on pace to swipe 75 bags this season. That’s Ricky Henderson territory, and I don’t expect him to stop running all season. Assuming he can stay healthy, there’s no way Acuña won’t steal 40 bases.
Acuña has been touted as the next potential 40/40 threat since he nearly accomplished the feat back in 2019, hitting 41 homers with 37 steals. This year, I expect him to get there, which would make him only the fifth player in MLB history to accomplish the feat, joining Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Alfonso Soriano. This will be fun to track for the entire season, and I’m just hoping he can stay healthy so he can make history.
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Photo: Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire
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