20-20 Club: An Update on the Class of 2016

20 Homeruns! 20 Steals! Who will do it this season?

By Garrett Atkins@13atkins13 Aug 16, 2016, 10:15am EDT

Can Ian Desmond finish off his 4th 20-20 season?

20 Homeruns! 20 Stolen bases! Such an exclusive achievement for baseball players to accomplish. Fantasy owners look at these players in a different light because of their ability to accumulate both of these very important stats in one season. Unfortunately, hitting 20 homeruns and stealing 20 bases is becoming a lost art. Here is a look at the total number of players to obtain this feat of the past several seasons:

12 guys in 2011
10 guys in 2012
9 guys in 2013
5 guys in 2014
4 Guys in 2015
Here are the 4 guys to go 20-20 last season: Manny Machado, Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan Braun, & A.J. Pollock. Machado hasn't successfully stolen a base all season and Pollock hasn't even stepped on the field this year. Goldschmidt is currently on pace to repeat 20-20 this season and Braun is just off pace.

Wil Myers became the first member of the 2016 20-20 club earlier this month! He has cooled off a bit since his red hot June, but despite hitting .226 he stole 8 bases in July. He has an outside shot at 30-30 as well, currently pacing 1 steal shy of the feat.

Mike Trout stole his 20th base of the year last night making him the second member of the 20-20 club this season. This marks the 3rd time Trout has gone 20-20 in his career. A consensus top draft pick, Trout has done nothing to disappoint fantasy owners this year. Let's see who's on their way to joining him and Myers:

Players on pace for a 20-20 season (stats are through Aug 15th):

Player, Team	Pos	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	Remaining Games	HR Pace	SB Pace
Wil Myers, SD	1B	78	23	70	21	0.276	44	32	29
Mike Trout, LAA	OF	91	23	76	20	0.311	44	32	27
Jose Altuve, Hou	2B	86	19	73	26	0.362	44	26	36
Mookie Betts, Bos	OF	91	26	84	18	0.313	45	36	25
Ian Desmond, Tex	OF	83	20	70	17	0.291	42	27	23
Charlie Blackmon, Col	OF	80	21	60	15	0.323	43	29	20
Bryce Harper, Wsh	OF	61	20	59	15	0.240	45	28	21
Paul Goldschmidt, Ari	1B	72	18	74	17	0.299	44	25	23
Melvin Upton Jr., Tor	OF	48	16	47	23	0.244	43	22	31
Francisco Lindor, Cle	SS	80	14	61	15	0.309	46	20	21

When I wrote the first post back in June we had 10 players on pace for 20-20. We still have 10 players, but we have 4 new names. Of the 6 repeat names 5 of them (Myers, Altuve, Trout, Betts, Desmond) should come as no surprise. Melvin Upton however, stands out on this list. He stays just on pace despite not hitting a homerun since July 8th. He is also batting just .167 since he was traded to the Blue Jays. His 20-20 season won't come to fruition if he continues his recent production.

Jose Altuve could join Myers and Trout in the 20-20 club any day now. The Astros second baseman needs only 1HR for his 20th. Altuve is having an MVP caliber year and is the top fantasy player in the majority of formats. 20-20 would cap off his incredible season and help legitimize his case for #1 overall pick in 2017 drafts.

Speaking of MVP, just a reminder of Mookie Betts insane pace: 130R 37HR 120RBI 26SB .313AVG

Ian Desmond, Charlie Blackmon, and Bryce Harper have all reached 20HR, but still need to maintain their stolen base pace to hit 20-20 by seasons end. Desmond, a 20-20 regular over the past several seasons, is looking to get back to the milestone after missing it last year. Blackmon, who now has a career high in homeruns, looks to get his 1st 20-20 season if he can swipe 5 more bases. After hitting no homeruns in July, the Rockies outfielder has been on a power surge with 9 HR so far in August. Harper has been a major disappointment for fantasy owners. Despite an incredible April, many fantasy players may be surprised to see his name on this list. He is batting just .228 since May 1st, but has actually kept 20-20 pace. Most owners are still let down though. They were expecting a lot more from the Nationals All-Star.

Paul Goldschmidt and Francisco Lindor were both just off pace for 20-20 back in June. They are both currently on pace to hit the milestone in 2016. They are the only players currently on pace despite not already having 20HR or 20SB already achieved. Goldschmidt is trying to go 20-20 for the second straight season. Lindor, who is pacing at 20-21, has the weakest threat of any players currently paced at 20-20. Hitting this mark would be a cherry on top for Lindor. He is having an incredible season and his Indians are as well.

Players just off pace for a 20-20 season (stats are through Aug 15th):

Player, Team	Pos	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	Remaining Games	HR Pace	SB Pace
Ryan Braun, Mil	OF	61	22	65	13	0.328	46	31	18
Ian Kinsler, Det	2B	92	22	63	13	0.288	44	30	18
Xander Bogaerts, Bos	SS	82	14	69	13	0.312	45	19	18
Anthony Rendon, Wsh	3B	67	15	54	12	0.263	45	21	17
Eduardo Nunez, SF	3B	56	13	50	29	0.287	44	18	40
Leonys Martin, Sea	OF	45	13	36	12	0.240	45	18	17

Ryan Braun and Ian Kinsler were both in need of more steals to pace at 20-20 back in June, they still need more steals, but they now find themselves just off pace to hit the achievement. Braun, a 4 time 20-20 player, is looking to join Goldschmidt in being the only 2 repeat players from last season. Kinsler, whose stats mirror those of Braun's, (although Kinsler has 31 more runs scored) is looking to be 20-20 for the first time since 2011. He is currently having his best statistical season since that year, a 30-30 effort.

Xander Bogaerts, Eduardo Nunez, and Leonys Martin all fall out of being on pace back in June. Bogaerts is having similar stats to Lindor. His 2 less SB puts him just off pace for 20-20. Fantasy owners can't be too disappointed in the Red Sox shortshop this year. Nunez, very similarly to Upton, has struggled recently after a hot start to the season. Before last night, his last homerun was July 9th. Still, he is only hitting .222 since becoming a member of the Giants. He had an outside chance at 20-20 earlier this season, but those odds are becoming slimmer and slimmer. Martin has had a very quite 13-12 season up to this point. His .240 batting average may be a big reason why. A 20-20 season isn't out of reach for the Mariners outfielder, but it would come as a surprise.

Anthony Rendon is the only member of this list who did not appear at all in my June update. He showed 20-20 potential back in 2014, but battled injuries for much of 2015 and put up a disappointing season. His 2016 has flown under the radar, but his July (6HR 4SB) has put him just off pace for a 20-20 year.

Players needing more power for a 20-20 season (stats are through Aug 15th):

Player, Team	Pos	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	Remaining Games	HR Pace	SB Pace
Odubel Herrera, Phi	OF	64	12	41	19	0.285	43	16	26
Hernan Perez, Mil	3B	31	9	38	20	0.288	46	13	28
Freddy Galvis, Phi	SS	46	11	47	12	0.230	43	15	16

Odubel Herrera, Hernan Perez, and Freddy Galvis will most likely all fall short of the 20-20 mark. They will all need more homeruns in the final months if they hope to reach the milestone. Herrera has continued his surprising HR total, but he has struggled in other areas. He had a 12.94% walk rate and a 18.45% strikeout rate through my first update in June, both worlds better than his numbers in 2015. Since then his walk rate has dropped to 7.14% and his strikeout rate is up to 20.88%. Owners hope he is able to improve back to his early 2016 self. How Herrera's Phillies teammate Freddy Galvis is pacing close to 20-20 is beyond me, and probably him as well. The .230 hitter is by far the strangest name I am typing about in this post. His number come in very short bursts throughout the season, so owning him, even in an NL only, can be frustrating. Hernan Perez probably won't reach 20-20 this year, but what he has done this season is remarkable. Check out more on him here via Faketeams own Laura Holt. Perez has 9HR and 20SB despite only 240AB this season! Give him a modest 380AB and he could have 14HR and 32SB! This gives him a solid chance at 20-20 next season if he keeps the production up and is given the playing time.

Players needing more speed for a 20-20 season (stats are through Aug 15th):

Player, Team	Pos	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	Remaining Games	HR Pace	SB Pace
Rougned Odor, Tex	2B	70	22	60	11	0.279	42	30	15
Gregory Polanco, Pit	OF	61	17	65	11	0.277	46	24	15
Jason Kipnis, Cle	2B	71	20	65	11	0.290	46	28	15
Carlos Correa, Hou	SS	59	18	82	10	0.277	44	25	14

Rougned Odor, who has 6HR 4SB and a .298AVG over the past 30 days, is looking for his first 20-20 season, but could fall short in stolen bases. He still has managed to improve statistically in each of the past 3 seasons. A 20-20 season is likely in the future, perhaps the near future. Fellow Texas based player, Carlos Correa, has all the tools to hit 20-20 at a regular basis. The Astros shortstop still has a 162 game average of 30-18 which isn't much to complain about. Gregory Polanco was on pace for 20-20 earlier this season. He surprisingly is in need of more speed to get back on pace. With 27SB a year ago, Polanco figures to be more than capable of reaching the accomplishment in future seasons.

Jason Kipnis, who recently hit his career high 20th homerun of the season, needs more steals to achieve 20-20. Kipnis has two 30 stolen base seasons under his belt, so getting 9 more this year wouldn't be unreasonable. If he can keep up his past 30 days of production (6HR 6SB .344AVG), he could be a member of the 20-20 club this season.

Final Prediction for the 2016 20-20 Club:

Wil Myers*
Mike Trout*
Jose Altuve
Ian Desmond
Mookie Betts
Paul Goldschmidt
Ian Kinsler

This was my prediction back in June and I feel confident in my selections. The one exception is that I now feel another member has joined the fray:

Charlie Blackmon

Please leave comments if you have any further questions and feel free to let me know what you found most interesting in this research. Thanks for the read!