MLB's 40-40 club members: How Pete Crow-Armstrong can join Shohei Ohtani, Barry Bonds, others in baseball history

MLB’s 40-40 club members: How Pete Crow-Armstrong can join Shohei Ohtani, Barry Bonds, others in baseball history originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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As recently as early July, Pete Crow-Armstrong — and anyone not named Shohei Ohtani — appeared to have a miniscule chance of winning NL MVP.

Less than three months later, the race is just about over: Crow-Armstrong is going to become the Cubs’ first MVP since Kris Bryant a decade ago.

There is one more individual accomplishment Crow-Armstrong can achieve before the end of the regular season, as the young superstar is knocking down the door of a rare 40-40 season that would put him in exclusive company.

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG

HOME RUN NO. 45 😤 pic.twitter.com/f8H27qa12b

— MLB (@MLB) September 20, 2026

Here’s a look at the members of MLB’s 40-40 club and the last player to join it.

MORE:Updated MLB standings, magic numbers

What is the 40-40 club?

Players in the 40-40 club hit 40 home runs and stole 40 bases in the same season. While that might sound pretty doable, there are only a handful of players with 40 home runs each season, and many of them just don’t have the speed to steal 40 bases.

The 40-40 club features players who found a way to blend extreme power with terrific speed, so it’s no surprise that it features some of the most recognizable players in recent history.

Only six players are in the 40-40 club, and none have posted more than one 40-40 season. The calculus has changed in recent years, since MLB relaxed certain rules to incentivize runners to steal more bases. Two of the six 40-40 seasons have happened within the last four years, and Crow-Armstrong would add a third in a span of four years.

Here’s a look at all of the 40-40 seasons in MLB history.

40-40 seasons in baseball

PlayerSeasonHRSB1988Jose Canseco42401996Barry Bonds42401998Alex Rodriguez42462006Alfonso Soriano46412023Ronald Acuna Jr.41732024Shohei Ohtani5459

The 40-40 club fascinatingly features no Hall of Famers. That’s the result of the steroid controversies surrounding Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, who each posted a 40-40 season in the 1990s after Jose Canseco became the first in 1988.

Alfonso Soriano was the only player in the 21st century to post a 40-40 season before Ronald Acuna Jr. formed his own 40-70 club on his way to an MVP award in 2023. Shohei Ohtani, who will break the trend by becoming a Hall of Famer, followed it up with MLB’s first 50-50 season in 2024, easily eclipsing the 40-40 mark.

Crow-Armstrong won’t get to 50-50, but he, Acuna and Ohtani could become the MVP trio of active players in the club by the time this regular season ends.