Apparently it’s Speed Day at Baseball is Fun.
Earlier, we took a look at Billy Hamilton managing to score on a play that started with him getting picked off first base. And in that post, I shared the stolen base leaderboards from 2014 through today:
- Billy Hamilton: 229 SBs
- Dee Gordon: 208 SB s
- Jose Altuve: 156 SBs
- Starling Marte: 126 SBs
- Rajai Davis: 125 SBs
- Jarrod Dyson: 120 SBs
- Ben Revere: 115 SBs
- Jonathan Villar: 109 SBs
- Charlie Blackmon: 101 SBs
- Jacoby Ellsbury: 101 SBs
You’ll notice that after Hamilton and Dee Gordon’s 200+ stolen bases, is everybody’s favorite Astro, Jose Altuve.
Yesterday, Altuve flashed the elite speed that keeps him up near the top of the stolen base rankings, by reaching safely on a bunt-single down the first base line. But unlike most bunt hits, this one wasn’t particularly close, because Altuve was absolutely burning it down the line.
Take a look:
According to Statcast, Altuve ran at 29.9 feet per second, reaching first base in just 3.33 seconds overall, which is apparently that’s the fastest home-to-first time since 2015 when Statcast began collecting data. That’s insane, and also awesome.
Altuve is having another monster season for the Astros this year, slashing .348/.412/.555 with 7.3 WAR (tied for first in MLB) and 32 stolen bases. In all likelihood, he’ll be a finalist (if not the winner) of the 2017 AL MVP award.