A 40/40 season could still be in the cards for Ronald Acuña

There hasn’t been much 40/40 talk surrounding Ronald Acuña as of late. Perhaps that’s because Atlanta’s horrid start has fans worrying about more important aspects of the team, or maybe it was his timid start in the stolen base department after he injured his hand early in the season. Either way, I’ve rarely seen Acuña’s chase of the feat mentioned lately, and he’s really not that far off the pace.

Obviously, there are 162 games in every season. Divide that number by the number of games the Braves have played already (66) and you get our multiplier (2.45).

As far as home runs go, Acuña is well ahead of track to mash 40 taters. He currently has 18, which puts him on a 44 home run pace, but I could see him easily eclipsing that number considering he’s homerless in his last eight games. With Acuña, that typically means a barrage of absolute moonshots is around the corner.

Acuña is a bit behind in the steals department. He recorded his 14th stolen base last night, putting him on pace to steal between 34-35 this season. However, like with his homers, his steals usually come in bunches. Acuña already has eight steals in 15 June games, and earlier in the month, he had five steals in five nights. The 40-mark is still easily attainable as long as he can stay healthy.

On more nights than not, it’s been incredibly tough to watch the Braves this season. It might get worse before it gets better, but Acuña’s chase for history is a silver lining that will go on whether Atlanta wins or loses. He’s a true NL MVP candidate and one of the five best players in baseball — the type of player that can fill seats regardless of the Braves record. Hopefully, Brian Snitker starts treating him like that going forward.