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Matt Olson and Ronald Acuna Jr. of Atlanta Braves Accomplishing Things That Duos Have Hardly Ever Done

Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves are having one of the best tandem seasons in baseball history.

Brady Farkas

Matt Olson and Ronald Acuna Jr. of Atlanta Braves Accomplishing Things That Duos Have Hardly Ever Done
Matt Olson and Ronald Acuna Jr. of Atlanta Braves Accomplishing Things That Duos Have Hardly Ever Done /
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The Atlanta Braves enter play on Friday as the best team in baseball. At 72-41, they have the most wins in the league and the biggest lead of any division leader in the sport (9.5 games).

They also armed with some of the best players in the league, who are having absolutely incredible years. Matt Olson leads the National League in home runs and Ronald Acuna Jr. leads baseball in stolen bases. There are other players making massive contributions like Ozzie Albies, Sean Murphy and Austin Riley, but the tandem of Olson and Acuna Jr. is accomplishing things rarely ever accomplished in baseball history.

Per @OptaSTATS on Twitter:

Matt Olson (40 HR) & Ronald Acuna Jr. (53 SB) are the 3rd pair of teammates in MLB history where one has 40+ HR & the other has 50+ SB before September. 

The other two:

1996 CLE - Albert Belle (44 HR) & Kenny Lofton (61 SB) 

1970 CIN - Johnny Bench (42 HR) & Bobby Tolan (51 SB)

That's it. That's the list. And with nearly three weeks before September actually hits, Olson and Acuna Jr. have ample time to add to their achievements. It's conceivable they could catch Belle/Lofton and be at the top of that list.

The Braves will open up a series with the New York Mets on Friday night in New York. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET as Charlie Morton (ATL) pitches against Tylor Megill (NYM).

Morton is 10-10 with a 3.86 ERA while Megill is 6-5 with a 5.45.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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