Dairon Blanco is a speed merchant in every sense of the word. The outfielder is that third fastest runner in the MLB at 30.3 feet per second in speed sprint behind only Elly De La Cruz (30.5), Bobby Witt Jr (30.5) and Bubba Thompson (30.4). The Cuban can be used as a weapon solely based on this gift God gave him, raw speed.
For example this season Blanco has three official at-bats, yet has five stolen bases and four runs scored. Blanco has been a key figure for Kansas City in manufacturing runs late in games as a pinch-runner via the stolen base. Last season between the various leagues he played in, the speedster managed to steal 100 bases.
With just two official at-bats this season, outfielder Dairon Blanco is third in @MLB with 5 stolen bases. In only 133 AB in the big show the Cuban has swiped 30 bags . #Cubanbaseballdigest #WelcomeToTheCity pic.twitter.com/pwzgtv8Dxr
— Cuban Baseball Digest (@CBaseballDigest) April 10, 2024
Once thing that puzzles me though is, why doesn’t Blanco get more at-bats? Last season in the Major Leagues he had a BABIP of .330 and 14 extra-base hits in 138 trips to the plate. I do understand that Nelson Velázquez and MJ Melendez have gotten off to good starts with the bat, but there should some at-bats to go around for Blanco considering how pedestrian Hunter Renfroe and Kyle Isbel have been at the plate to start the campaign.
In a game in which speed kills and the bases have been made more conducive to those who are base stealers Dairon Blanco should be a person that is put more in play by Matt Quatraro, considering how disruptive he is to the pitcher on the mound and the havoc he can create on the base paths. With Blanco Kansas City not only has unlocked a new type of weapon, but also created a new dynamic in our ever-changing national pastime.
In 25 games this season in the @LIDOMRD, Cuban outfielder Dairon Blanco of the @EOBASEBALLCLUB has 19 stolen bases, leaving him second in the circuit in that statistical category.
#CubanBaseballDigest #LIDOM pic.twitter.com/K69si4Kx9X
— Cuban Baseball Digest (@CBaseballDigest) December 16, 2023