Editors Notice: After this story was printed, a double steal within the prime of the eighth inning on Sept. 3 was modified to a balk that superior each runners, making George’s season whole 100.
Dodgers No. 25 prospect Kendall George has been operating wild at Excessive-A Nice Lakes all season, and he is not completed but.
The 20-year-old George, the thirty sixth total decide within the 2023 Draft, might be the Minor Leagues’ quickest man. He’s actually asserting himself as one in every of its prime base-stealing threats of the previous 20 years.
With three video games left within the Excessive-A season and a outstanding 15 steals in his previous 5 video games, George ran his option to historical past by reaching the 100 steals mark in his 111th sport on Thursday night time. His 101 swipes are already the fifth-highest single-season whole by a Minor Leaguer since 2005. Solely three gamers since then have swiped 100 or extra prior to now 20 years: Billy Hamilton (2011, ’12), Chandler Simpson (2024) and Delino DeShields Jr. (2012).
George wants three steals in his final three video games to match Simpson’s mark of 104 from ’24, which ranks second since ’05. Hamilton stands tall above the sphere with the all-time mark of 155 in 2012, a determine that may by no means be touched.
“Going on the market and being fearless and understanding that I’m able to doing this was actually all I wanted,” George informed MLB Pipeline in a telephone interview. “I simply put my head down and saved operating.”
Right here is George’s stolen base breakdown by month, adopted by some context on how wild these numbers are:
April: 10May: 11June: 10July: 27August: 34September: 9 (by way of Sept. 4)
He is swiped 43 baggage prior to now 28 video games relationship again to Aug. 1, no less than two in every of his previous 5 video games and 15 whole in these contests. Nobody has ever stolen extra bases in a five-game span in MLB historical past, in response to Statspass, and there have solely been three situations in MLB historical past of a participant stealing a number of bases in 4 consecutive video games. George has taken three, three, two, three and 4 baggage, respectively, in his previous 5 contests.
Even the 34 he swiped in August alone is otherworldly. The MLB file for steals in a month is 33, by Rickey Henderson, in July 1983. George has stolen three or extra bases in 14 video games this season — Henderson additionally holds the MLB file for that, at 12, in 1983. Extremely, there have solely been 12 situations of three or extra steals in a sport throughout all of MLB in 2025 — down at Excessive-A, George has 14 of these all by himself.
There have been eight 100+ stolen-base seasons in MLB historical past, the latest being Vince Coleman’s 109 in 1987. Jose Reyes’ 78 steals in 2007 are probably the most in a season by a participant this century.
As for George, scouts joked he had 90-grade velocity popping out of the Texas highschool ranks in ’23. However velocity alone does not make one a disruptive drive on the bases, and George has proven important growth within the artwork of stealing baggage. He went 36-for-48 in 86 video games for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2024, his first full professional season, leading to a less-than-great 75 % success charge.
He is improved on that considerably this season, enhancing his success charge to 80.8 % in additional than twice the variety of makes an attempt. All informed, George is 101-for-125 in stolen base makes an attempt this season.
“I’ve discovered you may’t actually run reckless,” George stated. “There may be approach that goes into it. Though I’m actually quick and may get away with some issues. This yr I have been actually honing in on that approach, choosing spots higher, choosing counts higher and issues of that nature. Though it has improved, I believe there may be nonetheless room for enchancment. I have been thrown out 20-something instances. I may already be at 100. However the strides that I’ve made this yr are sort of constructive.”
George might be gunning for historical past within the midst of a playoff push. Nice Lakes entered play Thursday 1/2 sport again of Lake County for the ultimate Midwest League playoff spot. Ought to the Loons qualify, they might play a best-of-three Division Sequence. However any extra steals George racks up in postseason play would not depend towards his regular-season whole.
So far as any information are involved, that offers him a transparent end line to run towards.
“In a while within the season, it obtained extra evident that individuals are actually, actually making an attempt to throw me out,” he stated. “Any likelihood they obtained, getting picked over thrice, giving me free bases, whatnot. They have been doing something they’ll to make it as exhausting as potential for me to steal bases. Nevertheless it’s enjoyable when it will get difficult like that, discovering methods to beat.”
