Royals’ Adalberto Mondesi’s stat line was matched by only one player in MLB history

Although Adalberto Mondesi is just 23 years old, it may seem to some Royals fans like they’ve heard about him for a really long time.

Well, they have. Mondesi signed with the Royals on his 16th birthday in 2011 and made his professional debut the following year.

“We’ve been talking about how special of a player he is and we’re just getting little glimpses of it like we did tonight, but it sure is fun to watch,” manager Ned Yost said after the Royals’ 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays on Tuesday.

Mondesi had a heck of a game, going 4 for 4 with three stolen bases, two doubles, a run scored and an RBI. His speed gave the Blue Jays fits, and Yost compared Mondesi to a couple of speedsters Royals fans are familiar with: Jarrod Dyson and Terrance Gore.

“It’s like the Road Runner, you expect there to be a ... little dust following him,” Yost said. “He’s that fast.”

The Road Runner (Accelerati Incredibilus) should be familiar to Looney Tunes fans.

According to Baseball Reference, only one other player under the age of 24 had four hits, two doubles and three steals in a game: Tim Raines, who did it on April 21, 1981 for the Expos in a game against the Phillies.

If you’re one of those fans who think age should be taken out of the equation, here’s one more list from Baseball Reference. Just five other players in MLB history have ever had four hits, two doubles and three steals in a game: the Yankees’ Rickey Henderson (1988), Indians’ Joe Carter (1986), Padres’ Paul Dade (1979), Tigers’ Ty Cobb (1915) and Raines.

That’s a pretty good list, right?

Major League Baseball made this highlight package of Mondesi’s night and yeah, he flashed the leather too:

This story was originally published August 15, 2018 at 8:58 AM.