Shohei Ohtani predictably getting closer to clinching first-ever 50-50 season

Nobody in the history of baseball has ever hit 50 home runs and stolen 50 bases in the same season. Nobody ever. It would take an incredibly special talent to do so. Think about it. The player has to be in the top 1% of base stealers in the league and in the top one or two home run hitters in the league.

A young Alex Rodriguez had these tools. He flirted with the 50-50 idea but landed well short in the only season where he stole over 40 bases, 1998. Barry Bonds had a real chance at it. He stole 52 bases in 1990 but fell 17 homers short of the 50 mark. In fact, Bonds reached 50 homers just once in his career, that being the record 73-homer season.

Last year, Ronald Acuña Jr. had a chance. He swiped 73 bases but came up nine home runs short. But it's the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani that looks set to become the first 50-50 member in league history.

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Ohtani closing in on the first 50-50 season in MLB history

At the time of writing this, Ohtani has 47 home runs and 48 stolen bases, putting him just three homers and 2 steals away from the illustrious 50-50 club.

His home runs marks him as second in the league behind Aaron Judge while his steals are also second in the league behind Elly De La Cruz.

The 50-50 club didn't even seem feasible before this season, especially for Ohtani. First of all, the feat of 50 home runs in a season is a big enough achievement in its' own right. Ohtani has never hit over 50 home runs in a season and, as noted before, the all-time home run leader Barry Bonds did it just one time.

But it's the steals that make this achievement that much harder. Before this season, Ohtani's career high in stolen bases was 26. He now sits at 48. Maybe leaving the Angels and joining the Dodgers opened up his freedom on the bases a ton more.

My recommendation would be to tune into every Dodgers game that you can. This is history that we're watching with Ohtani.

And this is the same player that's rehabbing his Tommy John surgery from last year.