Braves 21-year-old outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. entered Friday night's game against the Mets (ATL-NYM GameTracker) with 36 home runs and 29 stolen bases for the season. That meant he needed only one more theft to join the 30-30 club -- i.e., those who compiled at least 30 homers and 30 steals in the same season.
In the eighth inning at Citi Field, he got that missing steal:
.@ronaldacunajr24 is the second player in baseball history to have at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season prior to his 22nd birthday.#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/z1MTtm3U5D
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 24, 2019
As noted, Acuña is just the second player to pull off this feat before the age of 22. The only player who authored a 30-30 season at a younger age was Mike Trout of the Angels in 2012, when he was 20.
Acuña also became the the fourth player in Braves history to accomplish the feat after Ron Gant in 1990 (32 HR, 33 SB) and '91 (32 HR, 34 SB), Dale Murphy in 1983 (36 HR, 30 SB) and Hank Aaron in 1963 (44 HR, 31 SB).
In his second big-league season, Acuña is now batting .294/.377/.536 while flashing speed on the bases and playing a plus center field. No doubt, he's earned some down-ballot NL MVP votes. Given his skills and his excellence at such a young age, he's going to be a superstar for years to come.
