Ronald Acuña Jr. makes MLB history as fastest to join 200-200 club

WASHINGTON — Bat met ball in the top of the seventh inning, the latter flying out of the ballpark at 104 mph and soon, Ronald Acuña Jr. was flapping his arms and getting saluted in return by Atlanta Braves coaches and teammates, having witnessed another superlative from their now 28-year-old superstar.

“It’s freakish talent,” says Braves manager Walt Weiss. “And so he's capable of doing unbelievable things.”

In this case, on a rainy Wednesday, Sept 2 at Nationals Park, Acuña became the quickest player to reach 200 stolen bases and 200 homers, hitting the mark in just 904 career games, 25 sooner than Alfonso Soriano.

For a guy who debuted at 20 to reach a “fastest to” plateau at 28 seems momentarily incongruous. Yet that simply speaks to the adversity Acuña has faced after the sheen of his instant stardom wore off.

A pair of torn ACLs, one on each leg, essentially robbed him of two seasons, including the Braves’ run to the 2021 World Series championship. This season, a hamstring strain sent him twice to the injured list, and Weiss saw fit to bench him to “slow the game down” when he struggled returning from his second IL stint.

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/