Of course, a common office pool in the city is to wager on how far up the line his average is likely to go, which makes sense given that since July 1, Thum’s batting average is a cool .400.
In addition to the rookie’s spot in that franchise list, fans are watching him take on the single season record for stolen bases. At 69, Thum is already #3. Three more (72) will put him past Leroy Lane and into the #2 slot. He’ll need 79 to catch Jorge Rodriguez’s total from two years ago, 80 to pass him.
And, in a bit more of an esoteric record, Thum needs 95 more at bats to make it onto the leaderboard for that stat. Since he’s hitting lead-off now, it’s not completely out of his reach.
Bottom line: it’s been a solid season for the youngster, one that’s leading some to say that the future could be limitless, and might even someday see Thum’s name erasing that of current Nine teammate Lucas McNeill, who dominates the franchise record books today.
“That would be great,” McNeill said of the idea. “Records are made to be broken.”
ROBERTSON DEBUTS ON CAREER RATE BOARDS
