Guardians prospect turning heads after collecting 63 stolen bases in 60 games

While Cleveland Guardians fare getting contributions from prospects up and down their farm system, one 22-year-old in Single-A is having a season unlike anything we've seen in quite some time.

On Wednesday, Guardians prospect Tommy Hawke tallied his 63rd (!!!) steal this season in just 60 games.

It was just last year that Tampa Bay prospect Chandler Simpson stole 104 bases in the minors, which was the most in a season (in either MLB or MiLB) since Billy Hamilton stole a record 155 bases in 2012 across two levels in the Reds' organization.

Guardians prospect Tommy Hawke on pace for record-breaking season

Hawke has stolen four bases in two different games this year along with having six games with three stoles bases without being caught and 10 two-steal games.

It's a fascinating development considering that Hawke, a sixth-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, stole 22 bases in 124 games at the collegiate level with Wake Forest. He doesn't have scale-breaking speed like Simpson or Hamilton, though most scouts seem to agree he's on the much faster side of things, with Baseball America assigning him a 70 on the usual 80-grade scale.

During Hamilton's record-breaking 2012 season, the then-Reds prospect needed 132 games to steal 155 bases, which is a pace of 1.17 steals per game. Currently, Hawke is on a 1.05 steals per game pace, which would leave him at about 138 steals if he plays the same amount of games as Hamilton did. However, it is worth noting that he's never played in more than 88 games in a single season, a mark he set last year with Single-A Lynchburg.

As a prospect, Hawke isn't considered a top-level player, though his speed and production this year could begin to shift industry-wide perceptions. He's slashing .310/.455/.381 all while playing second base and all three outfield spots. He's not considered the best defender out there, though his speed can obviously help him make up a lot of ground in the outfield.

He has yet to hit a home run, though he does have 22 RBI and 51 walks compared to 44 strikeouts.

Stolen base prowess is a unique trait in baseball. While tends to carry over from level to level with ease, it can be hard to make much of a career out of it as your primary calling card. Hamilton played for 11 years in the majors, though he didn't last more than half of a season anywhere outside of Cincinnati.

Expect to see Hawke get the call to High-A soon, with the potential for a quick ascension through the rest of the system if Cleveland needs a pinch-running specialist late in the year.