Atlanta Braves
The Chopping Block
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Braves are the 2021 MLB World Series Champs.
While fans will be celebrating that championship for the next few months, baseball continues to move on and the offseason is here. Did Freddie Freeman take his last swing under his current contract with Atlanta?
Freeman just completed an eight-year, $135 million dollar contract that he signed in 2014. Freeman has accomplished everything possible in Atlanta. He is a five-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger winner and MVP of the National League.
Freeman is the face of the franchise and there is a real possibility that the Braves will be back contending for a repeat title next season. Freeman will certainly receive a qualifying offer from Atlanta.
The Braves have eight players that have filed for free agency: Ehire Adrianza, Jesse Chavez, Chris Martin, Eddie Rosario, Drew Smyly, Steven Vogt and World Series MVP Jorge Solar. Frankly, I believe Freeman will be the only player to receive an offer.
Atlanta had options on three players. Josh Tomlin, Joc Pederson and Adam Duvall. None of those options were picked up.
The Braves will get Ronald Acuna and Mike Soroka back from injuries, and the pitching staff received a boost with Kyle Wright showcased in the World Series.
The Braves have one of the best foundations for multiple years of success with top prospect Christian Pache and Drew Waters, who has a chance to win an Opening Day roster spot. Few organizations have a plentiful farm system like Atlanta.
Do the Braves pursue a top tier free agent this offseason? Here is a list of the top players available: Carlos Correa SS, Cory Seager SS, Max Scherzer P, Robbie Ray LHP, and many more.
Atlanta Braves fans celebrate the first World Series title since 1995. It was pretty clear throughout the World series this was a special team. After Solar hit the ball over the tracks, you could feel the Astros players and fans sigh.
The narrative for the 2022 offseason is to sign Freddie Freeman and become the hunted instead of the hunter.
We Are The Champions
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Braves are your 2021 World Series Champions!
That sounds pretty good doesn’t it Braves fans? This Braves team was not favored in a single series this postseason.
The Brewers, Dodgers, and the Astros all found out that the Atlanta Braves were a team of destiny in 2021. It has been a long 26 years since the last championship in 1995.
To give you some context here is what the world looked like in 1995:
Cost of Living in 1995
Average Cost of new house $113,150.00.
Average Income per year $35,900.00.
Average Monthly Rent $550.00.
Cost of a gallon of Gas $1.09.
US Postage Stamp 32 cents.
Average cost of new car $15,500.00.
To say it mildly a lot of things have changed in those 26 years.
Things looked bleak for 2021 when Ronald Acuna got hurt and was lost for the season with a torn ACL in early July in Miami.
The Braves were not really playing good baseball. At the time the Braves were trailing the Mets in the Eastern division. Actually, the Braves started the evolution to become a World champion back in 2017 when they hired Alex Anthopoulos as GM to clean up a huge mess in the Atlanta Braves Front office, whose illegal signings in Latin America cost the team 13 prospects, wrecked their ability to pursue premium international talent for two years and got the previous GM, John Coppolella, banned from the sport for life.
Anthopoulos, with the Braves not even playing .500 baseball at the time put together an outfield for the stretch run that may go down as some of the greatest moves in baseball history.
It started with Joc Pederson, who came in with a swagger that helped ignite the clubhouse. Pederson hit some big HRs down the stretch as the Braves started winning games. The Pearls became a fashion statement in Atlanta.
Eddie Rosario was brought in from Cleveland. Rosario had to get healthy once he got to Atlanta and then his bat paid dividends. Ask the Los Angeles Dodgers how good he is as Rosario was the NLCS MVP.
Adam Duvall was brought back in from Miami with his much-needed power added into the lineup.
Jorge Soler was brought in from Kansas City and hit a HR in game 6 of the World Series in Houston that landed in the Gulf of Mexico. Soler went on to become the World Series MVP.
These moves pieced together an outfield at the trade deadline that will be viewed as some of the greatest moves in baseball history.
The Atlanta Braves were playing sub-.500 ball until early August.
In fact, they were in third place in the NL East with a 52-55 record entering play on August 3. They went 36-18 in the final third of the season, which was enough to win the NL East by 6.5 games and were a red hot team entering the playoffs.
The bullpen, which struggled for most of the season, became lights out down the stretch run and in the postseason. Minter, Matzek, and Smith became a feared trio in the playoffs.
The magical season just ended in a World Championship for the City of Atlanta. Alex Anthopoulos deserves a lot of credit for building this roster and salvaging the season when things looked bleak. He deserves a huge raise.
Now the Braves need to get Mike Soroka and Ronald Acuna healthy, re-sign Freddie Freeman to a mega deal to make him a Brave for life, and decide what they are going to do with the championship pieces assembled at the trade deadline.
The Braves can worry about those items in a few weeks. Now is the time to celebrate your World Champion Atlanta Braves.
Turning The Ship Around
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It is July 10th, and the Atlanta Braves (43-44) are playing the Miami Marlins (38-50).
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hits a ball into deep right field off Max Fried in the bottom of the 5th inning with Acuna Jr. tracking the ball in right field. Acuna leaps at the right field wall and lands awkwardly resulting in a season ending ACL tear for the Braves perennial MVP candidate.
I think I am speaking for all Braves fans when I say that the Acuna injury seemed to be the moment to write the Braves off for the 2021 season as they were struggling to stay at .500% in a less than thrilling NL East race.
However, Braves General Manager, Alex Anthopoulos, and the rest of the organization thought differently and it’s turning out to be one of the best developing MLB storylines of the season.
Just about the only positive thing about Acuna’s injury for the Braves was the fact it happened before the MLB trade deadline, allowing the Braves to revamp their struggling outfield.
The Braves began their acquisitions by getting Joc Pederson from the Cubs on July 16th and proceeded to add Jorge Soler from the Royals, Eddie Rosario from Cleveland, and retrieved Adam Duvall from the Marlins all on July 30th.
These trades looked good when they were made and are seemingly only appearing to get better as they’ve helped completely turn the Braves struggling season around.
Perhaps the best thing to come out of this was the fact that the Braves were able to make these moves without jeopardizing their future in salary space.
Bringing Adam Duvall back to Atlanta is proving to be one of the best moves of the year, not just at the deadline, as he currently leads the National League in RBIs.
Pederson, Rosario, and Soler have all put together many solid outings as well as making a few clutch plays late in games since arriving in Atlanta.
Not many people thought much of the Braves after the way the first half of the season looked, however, the main point of consistency throughout the season has been the Braves infield.
Freeman, Albies, Swanson, and Riley are each having career years, and each infielder has reached the 25+ home run mark on the season making them the second infield in MLB history to ever accomplish such a feat.
This new Braves outfield has helped this year’s injury riddled team turn the corner, turning a four-game division deficit into a division lead.
I have a feeling that this division title might be a little sweeter than years past and as we all know, anything can happen in the postseason.
The New Titan
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Prior to the NFL Draft in late April, Atlanta Falcons first year general manager Terry Fontenot talked about trading Julio Jones.
Since then, I’ve been waiting to see where he would end up. We don’t have to wait any longer because he was traded to the Tennessee Titans.
Atlanta will receive a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 fourth-round pick for sending Jones and a 2023 sixth-round pick to Tennessee. I think the Titans won this trade. Julio is a seven-time Pro Bowler and a top three wide receiver in the league at least. I think Atlanta should have received a first-round pick for him.
The Titans are already a good team, finishing 11 – 5 last season and winning the AFC South. The year before that they advanced to the AFC Championship game.
Tennessee has great skill players already. Derrick Henry led the league in rushing with 2,027 yards and 17 touchdowns. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was 15th in the league in pass yards with 3,819. He is tied for 7th in passing TD’s with Deshaun Watson, throwing 33 of them with only 7 interceptions.
Wide receiver A.J. Brown had 70 receptions for 1,075 yards and 11 scores. Corey Davis had 65 catches for 984 yards and 5 touchdowns. He signed with the New York Jets in the offseason, so Julio is essentially replacing him.
The Titans have not had two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season since 2004. That should change in 2021. The biggest winner in the trade is Brown.
“It takes some of the tension off of me and with Derrick (Henry) and Ryan (Tannehill) with Anthony (Fisker),” Brown told ESPN on Sunday. “Having another dominant guy on the other side, everybody has to be honest. Now, you don’t know who’s going to hold who. I may get CB1 or Julio may get CB1. But whoever gets CB2, [that cornerback] is going to be in trouble. It’s going to be fun.”
Tennessee obviously likes to run the ball a lot with Henry and throw play action passes off of that. Defenses would normally have to put eight men in the box to try to slow him down.
They faced eight defenders in the box on 23.1% of their snaps last season, more than any other team in the NFL. Adding Julio makes it difficult to do that now. At this point they basically have to pick their poison.
Their former offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith left to take over as head coach in Atlanta after the 2020 season. Todd Downing is entering his first season as OC in Nashville.
“We’ll look for ways to get him singled up, ways to help him with different coverage indicators and things like that,” Downing said of Brown. “See where we can move him around, expand his route tree a little bit and watch him have success as we expand it.”
The Titans ranked 28th in total defense last year, giving up 398.3 yards per game and 27.4 points per game. They only had 19 sacks in 2020 which is ranked 30th.
They did try to address that in free agency, signing corner back Janoris Jenkins, linebackers Bud Dupree and Jayon Brown.
They also signed defensive tackles Trevon Coley and Denico Autry. They drafted Virginia Tech corner Caleb Farley in the first round.
If Julio stays healthy, I think they will win the division again. The only AFC teams that are better on paper are Kansas City and Buffalo.
I’m looking forward to see how this season plays out and who Atlanta will draft with the picks they acquired.
Beaten Up
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Coming into the season Braves fans were excited about the success that Braves Baseball has seen throughout the past few seasons and hope to continue.
Just last October, the Braves lost in a heartbreaking NLCS Game-7 against the Dodgers.
Since then, the Braves Ball-Club and its fans have had one thing on their mind, ‘get back to the NLCS (if not the World Series)’.
As most of us know by now, the Braves are one of the best teams in the National League, but the NL East is nothing to mess with this season.
Coming off of three Division Titles in a row, the fourth is shaping up to be the hardest one yet for Manager Brian Snitker and company.
Throughout the offseason, Braves fans around the country were excited to see the ball club take the field after their deepest postseason run since 2001. However, things haven’t gone according to plan for the Braves so far this season.
The Braves are around .500. Not exactly where experts expected them to be at this point either, thus sending Braves Country into panic mode, with fans beginning to blame anyone who looks the part.
Therefore, each series against a divisional opponent will only get more and more important for the Atlanta Braves as we get deeper into the season.
However, as a fellow Braves fan, I wouldn’t push the panic button just yet, for these three reasons:
Injuries: Already this season, the Braves have seen more than their fair share listed on the Injured List. The IL currently sits with 9 players that the Braves consider major contributors to the three-time division champion.
Fortunately, none of these injuries have been season-threatening so the Braves lineup should be back together in no-time.
Ronald Acuná Jr.: We’re early into this MLB season and Ronald Acuna Jr. is putting together MVP number early on.
He’s hitting over .400 and his OPS is over 1.000 along with a ton of homeruns, which all lead the league in its category while also being tied for second in RBI’s.
Since Acuna came into the MLB, he has been a spark-plug for the Braves by continuously driving in runs and making outstanding plays in right field.
Unfortunately for the Braves, they will need more than just Acuna to be able to produce runs in order to get back to the top of the division.
Pitching Bullpen: The injuries for Atlanta’s pitchers so far this season have been difficult to overcome for Atlanta’s ball club.
Injuries to three of their best pitchers in their rotation definitely hurts depth throughout the entire bullpen.
Unfortunately, that’s where the Braves are. Although the Braves came away with a 3-2 record over their most recent road-trip, they have exposed their bullpen depth early and often.
The conversation surrounding Atlanta’s bullpen coming into the season appeared to be one to have the Braves Bullpen as one of their biggest assets.
However, If the rotation continues to be shaky throughout the season. Don’t be surprised if General Manager Alex Anthopoulos makes some moves to keep the Braves in contention for the NLCS/World Series.
A large part of the early season mishaps for the Braves have been due to injury, but only time will tell if the injuries continue to be a theme throughout the entire MLB season.
Let The Kids Play
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After watching the Braves vs. Nationals, I began to think about the same debate that has gone on since the two made their Major League Debut in 2018.
Who would you prefer as a centerpiece for your baseball franchise, Ronald Acuná Jr. or Juan Soto?
Juan Soto hit a walkoff single to win the Season Opener for the Washington Nationals and extend the Braves losing streak to four games.
In that same game Acuña hit two solo shot homers off of Max Scherzer and one of those being the first pitch of the ball game.
Acuña has played a pivotal role in the Braves three consecutive division championships, whereas Juan Soto was a key contributor for the Nationals World Series victory over the Houston Astros in 2019.
Juan Soto is just about 10-months younger than Ronald Acuña Jr. and both have had an immense impact on their teams, as well as sending ripples throughout the MLB with their top-tier talent displayed on the field.
Their MLB debuts were both within a month of one another and neither of the two have looked back since… so why not take a look and see how they stack up against one another at the beginning of their fourth season.
Ronald Acuña Jr.: Career Stats: .281 AVG/.371 OBP/.911 OPS, 83 Home Runs, 61 Doubles, 198 RBI’s, with 63 Stolen Bases.
Throughout Acuna’s time in Atlanta, he is probably most known for his spark and swagger while he plays the game.
As a result, the Braves coaching staff decided to insert Ronald at the top of the batting lineup in order to ‘get the ball rolling’ and it’s fair to say it works more often than not.
Ronald gets a lot of respect at the plate but that often results in the fans overlooking what he is capable of in the outfield. With his terrific speed and a cannon for an arm, Acuña is consistently a threat to throw anyone out from his position in right field.
Which is just further proof of why Acuña is consistently in the mix for a National League MVP, along with his teammate Freedie Freeman the 2020 National League MVP.
There is no doubt about the electricity Ronald provides Braves Country but the downside for Acuña would be that his arrogance gets the best of the 23-year-old at times.
Most say that will come with time as he will mature throughout his career in Atlanta.
However, Acuña has already acquired outstanding awards such as the NL Rookie of the Year in 2018 as well as the Silver Slugger Award in 2019 and 2020.
Juan Soto: Career Stats: .285 AVG/.416 OBP/.971 OPS, 69 Home Runs, 71 Doubles, 218 RBI’s, with just 24 Stolen Bases.
After being a runner-up to Acuna’s rookie of the year honors in 2018, Soto has been one of the most dependable guys on a daily basis in all of baseball.
He put his name on the map with his performances throughout the 2019 postseason, where the Nationals won their first and only World Series Title with the help of Soto’s clutch performances.
Soto delivered again and again for Washington in that playoff run and continues to play well under the spotlight.
Soto is much better at waiting for his pitch than Acuña is, helping him to his impressive on base percentage at .416 through his career thus far.
However, the biggest difference between these two players would be speed.
Soto is just not able to match the speed and strength that Acuna brings to the table each night.
At the same time, Soto’s poise on the big stage, as well as his calm demeanor is what seems to make him slightly more attractive to some people than Acuña.
Safe to say that both these outstanding outfielders are two of the best in the game, but who would you rather build your baseball club around, Acuña or Soto?
4-Peat?
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NL East is the best overall division in Major League Baseball.
The Braves, Mets, and Nationals could all finish over .500 on the season. In 2019 the last full season before the pandemic four teams finished at .500 or better in this stacked division.
Let take a look at each team:
Miami Marlins: The Marlins made the playoffs in the pandemic shortened season of 2020, and eliminated the Chicago Cubs in the playoffs before the Braves ended their season.
This team has one of the top farm systems in baseball and just continues to produce talent.
Sixto Sanchez is one of the best young pitchers in baseball. Starling Marte is an All-Star and Gold Glove winner in the outfield and will be surrounded by all of that younger talent. This team will continue to improve.
Washington Nationals: The Nationals won the World Series in 201, and finished last in the division in 2020.
They still have Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin in this rotation, so they will be in just about every game.
Juan Soto is a superstar and they have Kyle Schwarber and Josh Bell potentially surrounding him in the line-up. How will this bullpen perform in 2021? That is the question surrounding this team.
Philadelphia Phillies: This team has spent a lot of money on free agents over the past couple of seasons but still floats around the .500 mark in the standings.
Bryce Harper is only 28 years old and will probably have a monster season and you have J.T. Realmuto and Didi Gregorius.
The core is there, but will this pitching staff hold up? Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler have to have great seasons for this team to contend.
NY Mets: The Mets have become the trendy pick by most everyone to win the NL East.
Can this team be consistent enough to win the division? That is a huge question mark in my mind.
Pete Alonzo will probably hit 40+ HR’s, and the Francisco Lindor trade was huge offensively and defensively.
Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, and Marcus Stroman will lead this pitching staff. This team has good pitching and will hit a lot of HR’s.
Something to watch down the stretch is can Noah Syndergaard return this summer from his Tommy John surgery? If he does and is effective then this could tilt the NL East in the Mets favor.
Atlanta Braves: We all know the Braves are one of the best teams in baseball. Freddie Freeman is the reigning MVP and Ronald Acuna Jr. is a young superstar.
The Braves resigned Marcell Ozuna. The Braves signed Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly to beef up the starting rotation.
How quickly can Mike Soroka regain form in 2021 after recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon last season?
Can Kyle Wright be the starter the Braves envisioned when they drafted him?
The everyday line-up is the best in the division if the Braves play Cristian Pache in CF.
Who will grab the closer job?
My NL East Predictions:
Atlanta Braves: 93-69
NY Mets: 91-71
Washington Nationals: 88-74
Miami Marlins: 78-84
Philadelphia Phillies: 75-87
I see the Braves winning the NL East in the last weekend of the regular season.
The Rookies
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Let’s take a look at a couple of young Atlanta Braves that could be depended on heavily to get the Braves back to the NLCS and perhaps further.
Other than Max Fried in 2020 the only other consistent starter in the Braves rotation was Ian Anderson.
Anderson came up late in the season and was amazing in the playoffs. In his six regular season starts Anderson posted an ERA of 1.95. He has good stuff; a fastball in the mid 90’s, a curve in the 87-88 mph range, and a change that has been improving.
Anderson is projected to be in the starting rotation for the Braves along with Charlie Morton, Drew Smyly, Mike Soroka, and Max Fried.
That rotation on paper is in much better shape than the 2020 rotation. Soroka got hurt early in the season and Cole Hamels, well don’t get me started there.
While the 2021 Braves will be in better shape in the starting rotation than the previous season. how will that rotation stack up against the Dodgers, Padres, and even maybe the Mets?
Back to Anderson, what does he have to improve upon?
He must continue to develop his change-up as a valid out pitch to keep hitters off balance. He must also throw more strikes. Anderson can pile up some pitch counts, and he needs to stay in games longer. Actually, the entire staff needs to stay in games longer due to some questions surrounding the bullpen with the departure of Mark Melancon and the status of Shane Greene.
Braves starters must start consistently pitch into the 6th or 7th innings in games or I think the team could struggle this year.
If Anderson can stay healthy, he has a decent shot at winning 14-17 games this season and maybe Rookie Of The Year.
Another contender for Rookie Of The Year is outfielder Cristian Pache.
Pache was called up by the Braves in last August and was added to the playoff roster and hit his first MLB homerun in game 3 of the NLCS.
At only 22 years of age Pache had only four regular season at bats for the Braves, but shined in the spotlight of the NLCS, as he started six games after Adam Duvall was injured.
Going into 2021, it looks like Marcell Ozuna in LF, Ronald Acuna Jr. in RF, and either Pache or Ender Inciarte in CF.
Inciarte was left off of the Braves 2020 playoff roster and that opens the door for the 22-year Pache to take over in CF for Atlanta.
Pache is already the best defensive outfielder on the team, he is fast, and his power as a hitter is developing. Pache is still developing as an overall player, but needs to be in the line-up every day to take advantage of his potential.
The outfield combo of Acuna and Pache could be a special one to watch over the next decade in Atlanta.
If I had to choose from the two above give me Anderson, because the Braves seem to have this fascination with Ender Inciarte that could limit Pache’s development.
Anderson was 2-0 with a 0.96 ERA in the postseason. He should get a full season of starts in to be in contention for the NL ROY.
Fountain Of Youth
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After three straight NL East Titles, The Atlanta Braves are looking to make it a fourth as long as they can keep a healthy lineup heading into the 2021 season.
A season ago the Braves were just one game away from a trip to the World Series and showing the world of baseball how good this young Atlanta team is, but Mookie Betts and company stood in the way.
Atlanta’s Bullpen fizzled out late in the NLCS against the Dodgers and ultimately turned out to be the breaking point for the Braves.
However, Atlanta was unable to showcase all of their talent last season due to injury. Mike Soroka was an All-Star for the Braves in the 2019 season going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA, before tearing his achilles tendon just three starts into the 2020 season.
In the absence of Soroka, the Atlanta bullpen leaned on Max Fried, who had a record of 7-0 and a 2.25 ERA last season.
Alongside Fried was the Braves pitching standout throughout the playoffs and into October, Ian Anderson.
Anderson played great in his rookie season and even better throughout his first playoff appearances. Anderson won all three Game 2’s against the Reds, Marlins, and Dodgers before coming up short in Game 7 against the Dodgers.
Hoping these three starters stay healthy for Atlanta, the Braves returning pitchers are a force to be reckoned with.
Atlanta went out and signed Charlie Morton to add to the rotation. Morton is back where his MLB Career began 12 years ago. Morton signed a one-year deal with the Braves to add yet another strong arm to an already loaded starting staff. \
Much like Ian Anderson, the Braves had another young star show flashes of great potential throughout the NLCS against the Dodgers. Christian Pache did much more than what he needed to do when he was thrown onto the field in the NLCS after an Adam Duvall injury.
Since then, the 21-year-old hasn’t flinched and is drawing comparisons from teammates to Braves great, Andruw Jones.
Over this three to four year stint of Braves NL East titles it seems that they have a never ending pool of youth to pull from. It seems like yesterday that Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies had taken the Braves fan base by storm.
Yet, here we are again with another great addition to the team so early in his career. Not to mention, Atlanta is also returning the 2020 NL MVP in first baseman Freddie Freeman, who has been nothing but great for the Braves since he arrived in 2009.
As they should, Braves executives have awarded their Manager Brian Snitker to a contract through the 2023 season for his success since 2016.
Snitker knows the Braves organization inside and out, from the minors to the majors, being around for 45 years gives you that privilege.
However, still on Snitker’s agenda is to bring a World Series trophy back to Atlanta for the first time since 1995.
Acuna Matata
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Pitchers and catchers report in just a few weeks.
The Major League Baseball season is quickly approaching and it is time to start talking baseball, while the Kansas City Chiefs are in the process of winning back-to-back Super Bowls.
Back to my topic, who the most exciting player in baseball?
That answer is easy to me his name is Ronald Acuna Jr. Is there a more beautiful swing in all of baseball than his? The ball just explodes off his bat.
I have been watching videos of him hitting bombs this offseason in his native Venezuela with the classic bat flip and doing some humanitarian work in a once great country that has been ravaged by a dictator.
The pandemic shortened season of 2020 kept Acuna from chasing the 40-40 HR/Stolen base club. He blasted 14 home runs in just 46 games and 202 plate appearances.
Acuna recorded 40 hits with 25 of them going for extra bases. He battled a nagging wrist injury that hampered him all of last season. Acuna had an OBP of .406 which is outstanding and walked 38 times in those 202 plate appearances.
The offensive stats are always going to be there with Acuna. The consistency of where he plays in the field has not.
Cristian Pache’s arrival in center field means that Acuna will move permanently to his natural spot of right field, where he can settle in defensively. Acuna has been blessed by the Baseball God’s with a cannon for a right arm.
Back to Acuna and the 40/40 club discussion. Becoming a member of the 40–40 club is an elusive achievement in modern American baseball, as very few players possess both the power to hit 40 home runs and the speed to steal 40 bases in a season.
Generally, a player with the strength to hit 40 home runs will not have nearly the speed necessary to steal 40 bases, and vice versa.
There are only four members of the 40/40 club in the history of baseball:
Members of the 40–40 club:
Year/Player/Team/HR/SB
1988 Jose Canseco Oakland Athletics 42 40
1996 Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants 42 40
1998 Alex Rodriguez Seattle Mariners 42 46
2006 Alfonso Soriano Washington Nationals 46 41
In 2019 Acuna barely missed the elite club by belting 41 HR’s and stealing 37 bases. Acuna could be the first player to achieve this milestone more than once in his career.
I actually think in the next 5 years Acuna will be the only man in MLB history to reach the 50/50 club.
The 2021 Braves are good enough to win the World Series. Probably should have beat the Dodgers in 2020 but we will chalk that up to lack of playoff experience.
I do know this, if I’m looking for one player to build a baseball team around it would be Ronald Acuna Jr.
He is a generational talent, and I would not be surprised if he wins the NL MVP in 2021.
The Braves have him signed to a long-term deal, but soon will have to renegotiate that deal to make Acuna one of the highest paid players in the game.
Braves fans, baseball season is almost upon us, and I hope we enjoy the next few years because they have the potential to be special, and Ronald Acuna Jr. will be the best player in baseball during that run.
