As of Friday afternoon, the second-ranked player in stolen bases, Jose Caballero, has 17.
The leader, Cincinnati Reds star Elly De La Cruz, has a whopping 30 thefts.
30!
It’s not even June.
Heck, it’s not even late-May, but De La Cruz is a special player and special players do these things.
De La Cruz started Thursday’s game with 26 steals for the year.
By the time it finished, he was at 30: he stole four bags, and has become a nightmare on the basepaths for pitchers and infielders.
“Four stolen bases tonight. 30 on the season. Elly De La Cruz is on a historic pace,” MLB tweeted with a video of De La Cruz working his magic.
Four stolen bases tonight. 30 on the season.
Elly De La Cruz is on a historic pace. ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/kePlqSihyd
Hugh Nicol, with 138, is the franchise leader in single-season stolen bases but that came in the old American Association in the late 1800s.
If you want the modern single-season leader in franchise history, you would have to go to 1986 when Eric Davis stole 80.
That’s a hefty total, but if De La Cruz manages to keep his current pace, he has a very solid chance of setting the modern Reds record.
If you want a more recent comparison of De La Cruz’s current pace, Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. had 18 thefts last year as of May 17.
He finished the year with 73.
Imagine how far can the Reds phenom go if he doesn’t take his foot off the gas.
Can he surpass Acuna?
Can he reach 100?
Those are all optimistic goals, but they are very much realistic.
We are talking about a generational talent who also has incredible power (he has eight doubles and nine homers to this point, too) and jaw-dropping raw tools.