Los Angeles Angels prospect Juan Cespedes may only be 17 years old, but he’s already turning heads for his blazing speed on the base paths. The teenager set a new minor league record with 8 stolen bases in his team’s 9-1 victory on Saturday.
For reference, the major league record for stolen bases in a single game is held by Billy Hamilton, who stole 7 bases back in August of 1894 for the Philadelphia Phillies. After starting the game with a leadoff walk, Cespedes successfully stole second, third, and then home. He followed this up by stealing 2nd after reaching base on a throwing error the next inning.
Fast forward to the 4th inning, and Cespedes, now on bases following a fielder’s choice, stole 2nd and then 3rd base in relatively short order. This was then followed up by a single in the 6th inning, after which he successfully stole 2nd base and 3rd base once again.
On the season, he’s currently 25 for 27 on steal attempts, and has 25 stolen bases out of the 30 times he’s reached base. Making the feat even more impressive is the fact that he’s only had 56 pro plate appearances to date. Standing just 5’10” and weighing 170lbs, the teenager will have no shortage of speed as he rises through the minor league ranks. How quickly his bat and fielding come along however will ultimately dictate how much seasoning he still requires.
Originally signed by the Angels for a $300K bonus in last season’s international class, Cespedes figures to be an intriguing piece for an LA team that’s currently sporting the worst record in the American League at 31-47. Only the Colorado Rockies (30-47) have a worse record than the Halos across all of Major League Baseball at the moment.
That being said, Cespedes has a way to go until he’ll be sniffing a shot at the Majors. Even the Angels, who are amongst the most aggressive clubs in terms of promoting their players, will tell you that there are still plenty of things for the speedy teen to work on in the minors before the club would realistically consider him an option at the top level of baseball.
For now, he’ll continue to ply his craft in the Dominican Summer League, with a potential late season promotion to Single-A or High-A being a possible next step for the infielder. Nevertheless, it’s been an impressive debut for Cespedes who is hitting .395 with 8 RBIs and 15 runs scored to date.
Photo: Quintin Soloviev. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.