THUNDER BAY – There’s no stopping Travis Chestnut on the basepaths.
The Border Cats speedster is rapidly racing up the league’s single-season stolen base charts, the odds better than good that anytime an opposing pitcher allows the Pflugerville, Texas native to reach first, it won’t be long before he’s standing on third.
Chestnut, a 5-foot-7 outfielder heading into his senior season at Texas A&M, didn’t take long to smash the Border Cats 20-year-old stolen base record, last week blowing past the 33 set by Quinn Ciccarelli in Thunder Bay’s inaugural 2003 campaign.
His 36 stolen bases, through 31 games as of Monday, puts him pace for 188 over a 162-game schedule, which to compare, is 58 more than Rickey Henderson stole in 1982, when he set the major league record.
Chestnut says he views his speed as just one more weapon in the team’s arsenal, a chance to make the opposition pitcher think twice before throwing to the plate. The failure to keep him in check often means he’s standing on second before the catcher can get the ball out of his glove.
“To be honest, my speed has helped me a lot,” said Chestnut, hitting .257 with 29 walks through Thursday’s contest.
“It makes up for a lot of the bad jumps I get. I pretty much get to first base and I wait for a high leg kick or a slow time to the plate and just take off.”
In the big leagues, the art of the stolen was lost, analytics saying the risk simply wasn’t worth the reward. In the 1980s, Henderson’s heyday, the stolen base was king, with the likes of Ron LeFlore, Vince Coleman, Tim Raines and Willie Wilson tearing up the basepath, a steal perhaps the most exciting play in baseball, with the possible exception of the home run.
But with bigger bases and pitchers limited to the number of times they can throw over to first, thievery is back and giving players like Chestnut, an outfielder who wasn’t drafted out of high school but will be eligible again in 2024, hope.
Speed is a game-changer, he said.
“Outside of just stolen bases, what the biggest key is that guys who hit behind me, they have to pound them fastballs, because if you throw anything slow, you’re giving the chance to throw it in the dirt and give the pitch away,” Chestnut said.
“It helps out our hitters, for one, because they’re getting fastballs in the zone. And just getting a runner at second with no outs, and even third base with no outs, is almost guaranteeing you a run. Just putting the ball in play should score a run.”
His teammates love it, though one in particular is probably happiest Chestnut signed with the Border Cats and not another division rival — catcher Cole Ketzner.
“Being a catcher, I’m glad he’s on our team and not the other team. Chestnut, he’s electric, that’s what he is. As a catcher, when he’s hitting, you don’t want to just let him get on base. But he can swing it too. You’ve got to attack him and hope he gets out. But when he ends up on first base, he ends up on third.”
Alas, all good things must come to and end. Chestnut is leaving the team early to return to school. His last game is July 28.
The Cats are home this weekend against Duluth on Saturday and Sunday, and wrap up their home schedule on Aug. 8 against La Crosse.
