This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers' Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

KANSAS CITY -- When Dairon Blanco emerges from the Royals’ dugout to pinch-run in a close game, everyone watching knows he’ll be attempting to steal a bag.

He knows it. The opposing team knows it. You know it.

And it’s still hard to catch him.

“The mindset starts in the dugout,” Blanco said through interpreter Luis Perez on Wednesday. “Just steal bags.”

Entering Thursday, Blanco has more steals (five) than plate appearances (four). He hasn’t started or gotten a hit this year -- but he’s impacted games almost as much as the starters. He’s appeared in nine of the Royals’ 12 games and has scored four runs. His sprint speed of 30.3 feet per second is elite and would rank third in the Major Leagues -- slightly above Bobby Witt Jr.’s 30.1 -- if Blanco qualified for the leaderboard.

“When I go out there, I feel like I’ve been playing the entire game,” Blanco said. “Everybody is pumping me up. When I get to first base, they know I'm going to steal second. Then, I’ll be able to score a run. Everybody is paying attention and pushing me to get to the next bag to score a run.”

Blanco electrifies the Royals’ dugout and has been an extremely useful weapon to have off the bench, after stealing 24 bases in 69 games for Kansas City in 2023.

“He’s a supremely talented runner,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Secondly, he’s fearless. The best basestealers usually are. We’ve talked about it with him; he’s not going to be 100-for-100. At times, somebody’s going to get him. That’s OK, because he’s going to be able to, way more often, succeed and put us in a good spot.

“He adds a dimension to the bench that, as you see how we’re using him, he changes the game in an instant when he’s out there. Puts a lot of pressure on the other team.”

Throughout each game, Blanco stays ready to run or come in as a defensive replacement by staying locked into the game situation and keeping his legs loose. Whenever he does take over on base, everyone is thinking about when he’s going to steal second. That includes the opposing pitcher, who has to think about holding a fast runner while knowing that Blanco is likely scoring if the hitter ropes an extra-base hit. If Blanco gets to second, he’ll likely try to score on a base hit.

“I get to first, then second and third, and when somebody hits a ground ball, they get an RBI,” Blanco said. “The hitters enjoy it. We all do.”

On April 1 in Baltimore, Blanco stole two bags and scored a run in a loss to the Orioles. In Sunday’s victory over the White Sox, he pinch-ran in the seventh inning, stole second and then scored on MJ Melendez’s home run -- perhaps even helping Melendez get a few more fastballs from Deivi García to hold Blanco on second base by getting to the plate quicker.

“I’m sure every pitcher that has him on first is sitting there thinking about it,” starter Cole Ragans said. “I’m sure I would. When he’s on base, it’s always a big situation. Everybody gets fired up about that. It’s fun to watch, too. He gets out there, picks his time, and he goes for it.”

Blanco has always been known for his speed; it was one of the things that excited the Royals when they acquired him as part of the Jake Diekman trade with the A’s in 2019. In ‘22 with Triple-A Omaha, Blanco stole 45 bases in 107 games. A year later, he stole 47 bases in 49 games for Omaha before he was called up in June.

This year, the Royals preferred to keep Blanco on their 26-man roster, knowing they could construct their bench in a more balanced way and utilize his speed and defense.

He knows starting opportunities will be hard to come by, but he’s embraced his role.

“It’s always been my strength,” Blanco said. “Once I got the opportunity to be here, I understood what I needed to do to stay. Then this year, early on, they gave me that role to be the baserunner, and I just try to be prepared, welcome it, and enjoy running around the bases.”