Nobody told this stolen base savant that it’s not 1980 anymore

Esteury Ruiz was one of five players acquired by the A’s in the three-team deal that sent catcher Sean Murphy to the Braves. Of the eight players involved in that blockbuster, the 24-year-old Ruiz, coming off a season in which he led all of Minor League Baseball with a combined 85 stolen bases in 114 games, was easily one of the most intriguing. And while he was initially lost in Murphy’s red-hot start, Ruiz has since carved out a niche for himself in his first full Major League season, currently leading baseball with 27 stolen bases through 55 games, which would put him on pace for … 79.5. Sounds promising.

While the number in and of itself is impressive, it’s the path he has taken to 27 that really stands out. Through his first 24 games, he had five stolen bases. By that point in his season, MLB-leader Ronald Acuña Jr. had 13. Ruiz, if he were to appear in all 162 games, was on pace to finish the season with 33.

You’ve probably already started doing the math. Across his last 30 games, he has 22 steals. Prorated over a 162-game season, that’d be 118—which, while not a realistic dream in this case, would be a single-season mark met or surpassed only twice in AL/NL history, first by Lou Brock (118 SB in 1974) and later by Henderson (130 in 1982.)