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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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?
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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.