That is such an interesting question because there’s no unquestionably correct answer. I like Ohtani’s 50/50 accomplishment a little better than Acuna’s 70/40. Stolen bases is mostly a God given talent – raw speed. Once the runner identifies the signs to steal, then it becomes mostly academic as there’s not much a catcher can do, even with a pop of 1.85-1.9 which is very quick. In the MLB, a runner is safe stealing second more times than not, certainly greater than 50 percent, but probably closer to 75 percent. Add in the new pitching rules that favor the baserunner even further, and I think stealing is slightly less of an accomplishment than a HR.
I think most agree that hitting an MLB HR is one of the most difficult things to do in sports in the normal course of the game — up there with scoring a goal in hockey or riding a bull for 8 seconds. Anyway, it isn’t a God given ability like stealing bases, it relies more on skill to go along with that ability. Identifying the pitch, what is will do, and where it will be at impact is crazy difficult. One of the best to ever do it was Barry Bonds, who hit a HR at a 7 percent clip for his career. For every 100 AB’s he hit 7 HR’s. Willie Mays hit 6 percent. Rafael Palmeiro 5 percent etc. This season, Ohtani is hitting a HR at an 8 percent clip, which is a little less than Aaron Judge at 10 percent, but more than the 6 percent Acuna hit in 2023. For that reason I place a little more weight on the HR accomplishment than the SB accomplishment, and would consider the 50/50 a little more prestigious than the 70/40 accomplishment.
One guy’s opinion.
Saint Marys @ 
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