SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Grant McCray led off the San Francisco Giants’ exhibition game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday at Camelback Ranch and he hobbled down the first base line after his foot absorbed a cut fastball. A trainer rushed out to check on him. He grimaced and he shook his leg and he jogged in place.
On the next pitch, he stole second base.
“Been waiting for that chance to run,” McCray said. “I’m always itching to go.”
McCray is one of the best minor-league base stealers in recent franchise history. In three years at full-season affiliates, he has been successful in 109 of 132 attempts. How impressive is his 82.6% success rate over that span? Consider that Rickey Henderson, who swiped a major league-record 1,406 bases, retired with a success rate of 80.6%.
