it takes a thief

The stolen base has been a big weapon for streaking Kansas City, and the Royals’ master thief is Jarrod Dyson, the former Southwest Mississippi Community College star. The Royals, who have climbed to within a half game of Detroit in the American League Central, lead the league with 101 steals. Dyson, an outfielder who doesn’t even play everyday, leads the team with 26 bags. He got three of the team’s seven in Sunday’s 7-4 win over San Francisco that was KC’s seventh straight. “That’s what we do,” Dyson told the Kansas City Star. “We abuse everybody.” The 5-foot-9 McComb native does a lot of little things for the Royals. One day he’ll start in center, the next he might pinch run, the day after that he’ll get in late for defensive purposes. He has been swinging the bat well, hitting .412 over his last 10 games. In 192 at-bats over 85 games overall, Dyson is batting .286 with 16 RBIs and 22 runs. He has made 175 putouts (he had 10 on Sunday) with three assists and three errors in 76 games in the outfield. And on the bases, he has only been caught stealing four times in his 30 attempts. (By comparison, Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton has been nailed 18 times in 61 tries for Cincinnati.) Dyson has been in the big leagues for most of the last five years, batting .259 with 110 bags. KC got him as a 50th-round pick. At this point, that looks like another steal.