With 60 Steals In 63 Games, Guardians’ Tommy Hawke Makes Basestealing Look Easy
Image credit: Tommy Hawke (Photo by Bill Mitchell)
Last year, Chandler Simpson became the first player in 12 years to top the century mark in steals after he stole 104 bases.
This year, if Guardians’ prospect Tommy Hawke doesn’t reach 100 steals this season, it will mean he’s had a very disappointing second half of the season. His 60 steals are 14 more than anyone else in the minors.
Hawke isn’t on pace to break Billy Hamilton’s almost unfathomable record of 155 steals in a single season. But with 60 stolen bases in just 63 games with Low-A Lynchburg, the 22-year-old is on pace to record the most steals by anyone other than Hamilton since 1983 (when Vince Coleman stole 145 bases and Donnel Nixon stole 144).
Hawke has stolen four bases in two different games this year. He has swiped three without being caught on five different occasions. And he’s had 10 two-steal games. That’s how he’s averaged almost a full stolen base per game despite having 20 games without a steal.
It’s even more remarkable when you consider that, in 124 games over two seasons at Wake Forest, Hawke stole only 22 bases. Nowadays, that’s a run of the mill month for the speedster.
In 24 games in May, Hawke stole 22 bases for Lynchburg. It was a slow month for him. He stole 24 bases in 24 tries in 21 games in April. This month, he’s stolen 14 bags in 15 tries in 12 games.
Hawke is a 70-grade runner on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. He’s not a Hamilton/Simpson-level speedster, but he is fast enough and aggressive enough to require pitchers to pay attention to him whenever he reaches base. And he’s especially adept at reading pitchers.
The fact that Hawke remains in Low-A two years post-draft as a college player is not a great sign for his development. But he is dominating the level at the moment, hitting .314/.453/.387 while playing all three outfield spots and second base.
Of the five times Hawke has been caught stealing, one was where he was thrown out in a rundown between third and home on a double steal. Don’t knock that too much however, as his success rate on stealing home is 67%, and he’s scored twice on double steals.
Hawke has only been caught four times this year on a straight steal. All four other times, he was thrown out at second base, as he’s 19-for-19 on steals of third. He’s a true master of the jump lead when standing on second. In 10 of his 19 steals of third, he stole the bag so easily that the catcher or pitcher didn’t even attempt a throw. He scored on an overthrow on one of the nine steals of third where a catcher did attempt to nab him. So, really, he’s taken 20 bases in 19 attempts to steal third.
Hawke has been picked off once this year, so he’s actually been erased from the base paths on six occasions. But that’s counteracted by the fact that he’s advanced on three errors where a pitcher tried to pick him off. One of those was a two-base error that also scored a runner from third. Twice he’s stolen second on pick-off attempts and once he’s stolen third. So this season, Hawke has made one out but advanced seven bases and seen another runner score on pickoff attempts.
Normally a 2023 college draftee who remains in Low-A would be considered a complete non-prospect, but in Hawke’s case, his basestealing ability makes him a realistic option to find a way to the big leagues, as few players have come close to matching his level of basestealing prowess.
