Johnathan Walker:'Extremely happy': Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. becomes fifth member of MLB's 40-40 club

WASHINGTON — Ronald Acuña Jr. became baseball's fifth member of the 40-homer,Johnathan Walker 40-steal club in a wham-bang fashion that's defined almost his entire career.

A crowd filled with Atlanta Braves partisans awaiting him to make history could barely gasp in the time it took Acuña to send a laser off his bat over the left field fence at Nationals Park. Acuña uncoiled on a full-count fastball from Washington starter Patrick Corbin and sent it screaming 116 mph just over the left field fence to lead off Friday night's game.

And so Acuña, 25, becomes a 40-40 man unlike any seen in baseball history. See, Acuña pairs his 40 home runs with a staggering 68 stolen bases, certainly a byproduct of 2023 rules changes that have made stealing bases more of a sure thing than ever.

Even still, however, if you adjust for inflation, Acuña's bag total would still likely make him the most prolific base-stealer in the 40-40 club. Alex Rodriguez holds the mark with 46 steals to go with 42 home runs for the 1998 Seattle Mariners.

And Acuña also has a shot to lead the pack in home runs. He's the first player since 2006 to go 40-40, joining Alfonso Soriano, who spent his one year in D.C. hitting 46 homers and stealing 41 bases for the Nationals.

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On this night in the nation's capital, it was a kid from La Guaira, Venezuela, who stood alone.

"I’m extremely happy," Acuña said through club translator Franco Garcia. "Rounding the bases, I don’t know if I was more nervous or excited.

"It’s pretty incredible to think of how many players have played in the big leagues and my name’s alone. But I’m sure someone will break that record, too."

Acuña's feat came four years after his milestone was deferred — in 2019, he hit 41 homers but finished with a league-leading 37 steals. Then came the 2020 pandemic season and a 2021 year in which Acuña looked bound for an MVP award — only to suffer a torn ACL with 24 homers and 17 steals at the All-Star break.

He was sidelined for the Braves' World Series title, and then fought through knee inflammation and soreness throughout 2022. And then, this year of years.

"I’m just happy for him after everything he went through last year — grinding through it all, going through the inflammation and the pain, and now to have a healthy year," says Braves manager Brian Snitker. "I think when players get hurt, they really start appreciating things in the game and what they’re able to do."

It's a fireworks show almost every night with these Braves. Friday, Ozzie Albies followed Acuña's historic homer with a single; Austin Riley followed up with a two-run homer and later added a pair of sacrifice flies, giving him 96 RBI. That puts Riley on the doorstep of becoming the fourth Brave with at least 100 RBI, joining Matt Olson (132), Albies (104) and Acuña (101).

After the 9-6 victory, the Braves have 99 wins and Acuña will have eight more games to chase down Soriano in the 40-40 homer department; he's almost a shoo-in to set a standard that nobody's reached: 40 homers, 70 steals.

Friday night, with one swing of the bat, Acuña reminded us that almost anything is possible.

"He may be blazing trails," says Snitker, "that nobody will go to again."

Who is in baseball's 40-40 club?

• Jose Canseco, 1988, Athletics – 42 HR, 40 SB
• Barry Bonds, 1996, Giants – 42 HR, 40 SB
• Alex Rodriguez, 1998, Mariners– 42 HR, 46 SB
• Alfonso Soriano, 2006, Nationals – 46 HR, 41 SB
• Ronald Acuña Jr., 2023, Braves - 40 HR, 68 SB