Trea Turner Only Needed Three Innings To Tie His Own Team Record For Most Stolen Bases In A Game

Of all the various factors that make Trea Turner so damn fun to watch, perhaps none is so impressive as his speed. He’s making that ridiculously, abundantly clear tonight.

Through three innings against the Cubs tonight, Turner stole four bases—tying his own team record for most steals in a game, which he set just less than two weeks ago. He tied his own record in three innings. (In addition to being the Nationals’ team record, four steals also tie the overall franchise record, which was achieved multiple times by Tim Raines and others in the club’s time as the Montreal Expos.)

Turner started by stealing second after getting a lead-off single in the first inning:

A few pitches later, he took third:

He came to the plate again in the third, getting aboard with a walk. From there, he did more or less exactly what he did in the clips above. (Albeit with a little more time in between his steals of second and third, because who doesn’t want to space things out for a little dramatic effect if you’re going to tie a record?)

Those four were stolen bases Nos. 29, 30, 31 and 32 for him on the year—making him the first Nationals player ever to have two seasons with more than 30 stolen bases. Which is impressive without context, and insane when you realize that he played just 73 games in his rookie season last year and has played in 66 this year, because, y’know, it’s still June. He’s become the first player in the team’s (admittedly short) history with so many stolen bases across two years, and he’s needed less than a half-season each year to do so.

In somewhat related news, here’s a note about tonight’s Cubs catcher, Miguel Montero: