Ronald Acuna Jr. made history with his 40th home run in 2023, becoming just the fifth player in the history of Major League Baseball to finish the season with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases. Before the 2023 MVP came Alfonso Soriano (2006 – 46 HR and 41 SB), Alex Rodriguez (1998 – 42 HR and 46 SB), Barry Bonds (1996 – 42 HR and 40 SB) and Jose Canseco (1988 – 42 HR and 40 SB).
Shohei Ohtani is doing everything he can to make sure there isn’t a long break between the fifth and sixth member joining the club.
Through 111 games played, the four-time All-Star has 34 home runs and 32 stolen bases. The home run pace shouldn’t come as a surprise, given he hit over 40 home runs in two of the last three seasons. However, his 32 swipes is already a career high.
With six more home runs and eight stolen bases to go, DraftKings Sportsbook bettors can now back or go against Ohtani finishing with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases:
Shohei by the numbers
Given Ohtani has hit over 40 home runs multiple times in his MLB career, the real question mark is his work on the base paths. Through July, Ohtani logged 28 stolen bases. Then he stole a quick four to open August. Here’s a breakdown of the pace he’s on based on performance and the number of games left:
- Ohtani has attempted a steal in 32.43% of his games played (36 SB in 111 games).
- He has stolen a base successfully 88.89% of the time (32-for-36)
- The Dodgers have 48 games left, and Ohtani has played in 97.36% of their games (111 of 114).
- If Ohtani continues to play in 97.36% of L.A.’s games, he will play in 46 more games.
- If Ohtani continues to attempt to steal a base in 32.43% of the games he plays, he’s due for 14 more attempts (rounding down from 14.91).
- If Ohtani continues to swipe bags at an 88.8% success rate and maintains that rate of attempts, he’s due for 12 for stolen bases (using the round number of 14 attempts and rounding down from 12.44).
- That puts Ohtani on pace for a 2024 total of 44 stolen bases.
Of course, things can happen that derail Ohtani’s pursuit. He only had three stolen bases in June. Hit hot start to August may not maintain. He also might not play as much for the Dodgers if they can close out the division earlier. “NO” is very much in play at +180.
That said, I do lean “YES,” but the value is the problem at -220. Parlaying this with the Dodgers to win the NL West at -525 would be ideal, but this special can’t be parlayed with baseball plays.
However, it can be parlayed cross-sport.
Ohtani-Olympics Parlay
Enter the U.S. Basketball squads. As of writing, backing the women to win gold isn’t available. The men are -700 to win gold, and parlaying them with “YES” on this Ohtani play provides -152 odds. That brings the payout on a $10 winning bet from $14.54 to $16.61, so there’s a slight improvement. But, it may be worth waiting on the odds for U.S. women to win gold in basketball to get closer to even-money odds.
To place a bet on Ohtani’s pursuit of the 40/40 club, go to the “PLAYER SEASON SPECIALS” market in the MLB section for DraftKings Sportsbook and go to the “40/40 CLUB” section.
Place your bets at DraftKings Sportsbook or by downloading the DraftKings Sportsbook app.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
