Could Shohei Ohtani be the first MLB player with 50 homers and steals?

Major League Baseball players have achieved the feat of stealing at least 50 bases in a season nearly 500 times. Meanwhile, hitting 50 home runs or more has been accomplished 49 times throughout the sport’s history. Yet, no player has managed to accomplish both in a single season. As the current season progresses, a new milestone may be on the horizon: the 50/50 club.

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who is 30 years old, may be on the brink of this unprecedented achievement. Sports analysts project that Ohtani could reach this remarkable milestone before the season concludes. He is already halfway there and recently marked his 51st stolen base after successfully stealing two bases against the Miami Marlins.

The players’ statistics can be viewed through data provided by Sports Reference’s StatHead Baseball, illustrating Ohtani’s standing compared to other iconic baseball players.

If Ohtani reaches the milestone of 50 home runs this season, it would mark only the 50th instance of a player achieving such a feat. A detailed comparison of his potential performance against other members of the 50 home-run club, alongside the top players who have stolen at least 15 bases in a single season, is available.

“Achieving a 50/50 status would be an incredible accomplishment,” noted Sean Forman, president of Sports Reference. “No one has ever done it in a single season, and only two players, Barry Bonds and Brady Anderson, have ever managed both hitting 50 home runs and stealing 50 bases at any point in their careers.”

For a milestone that has proven elusive over the years, it’s remarkable that both Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. from the Atlanta Braves have come close to achieving it in consecutive seasons. Last season, Acuña stole an impressive 73 bases while hitting 41 home runs. Although Ohtani may not surpass Acuña’s 73 stolen bases, he has already outperformed him in home runs, becoming the first member of the 45/45 club.

The record for modern-era single-season stolen bases belongs to Ricky Henderson, who, in 1982, stole 130 bases while also hitting 10 home runs. Henderson’s name appears 13 times on the list of players who have managed to steal 50 or more bases in one season.

Should Ohtani reach the 50-home run mark, he would take a leading position in a ranking of the 50 home run club members based on their stolen bases. The last player to hit more than 50 home runs while also having notable stolen bases was Alex Rodriguez in 2007, who boasted 50 home runs and 24 stolen bases. Before Rodriguez, only Willie Mays managed to hit 51 home runs along with 24 stolen bases over 50 years ago.

As the regular season draws to a close, Ohtani has 10 games remaining on his schedule, with fans eagerly anticipating each game as they wonder if he can complete the historic dual achievement.

Despite Ohtani having a record-breaking season, Forman suggested that Acuña’s 2023 season deserves notable recognition as well. Baseball Reference’s Power-Speed leaders list evaluates players based on a computation that combines home runs with stolen bases achieved in a single season.

“As it stands, Acuña exceeds Ohtani in rankings due to his higher steal count, so I would still consider him the top power-speed player in the league,” Forman remarked.

Source: USA TODAY