Duke Ellis took a lead off first base in the seventh inning of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ game against Rochester on August 6th at PNC Field. He broke for second and when the throw from Red Wings catcher Maxwell Romero Jr. was high, Ellis safely slid headfirst into the bag.
It was Ellis’ 41st stolen base of the season and 83rd of his career, surpassing the franchise record of 82 set by Nick Punto from 2001-03.
Since then, he has extended the mark to 85 steals in 156 career games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Ellis is on the brink of another franchise record, too. He ranks second in the International League with 43 steals in 49 tries; Braiden Ward of the Worcester Red Sox leads with 51 swipes. Ellis is one steal away from tying and two shy of breaking the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre single-season record of 44 set by Tommy Barrett in 1989 — the franchise’s inaugural season.
“I take a lot of pride in my baserunning. It’s kind of gotten me to where I am now,” Ellis said. “Individually, it’s a big accomplishment and really cool to get to that achievement.
“At the end of the day, though, I really don’t do it for me. I do it to win ballgames. I get to second so it’s a little easier RBIs for everybody else. That’s kind of the reason I do it. The achievement is awesome, but in the bigger picture it’s not just for me.”
Both Punto and Barrett played for the Red Barons when Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies. So did Ellis’ father Robert. In fact, he threw one of the franchise’s seven no-hitters on June 6, 2004, against Louisville in the second game of a doubleheader.
That connection made breaking the career stolen base record even more special.
“He called me and said, ‘I have a no-hitter there and now you have that record there,’” Ellis said. “It’s kind of cool to hear his stories and follow in behind it.”
In describing the art of stealing bases, Ellis said swiping second is like playing checkers and taking third is like playing chess.
“Stealing second is all about jumps and obviously how fast you are,” Ellis said. “Stealing third, it took me a lot of years to get where I am now. I wasn’t even close to it to where I’m at right now even last year. These guys have been pretty awesome here with my development on just stealing third. I have found there’s a small art to it, but it’s not like I do anything special. I play it more like chess. You have to look for little things in game and what the pitcher’s doing and everything else to be able to take third base.”
There is an added challenge, too, when Ellis comes into the game as a pinch-runner where the opposition — and everyone in the ballpark — knows he is going to steal.
“It’s a little more difficult, but not much more as stealing when I’m playing,” Ellis said. “When I come in a pinch-running situation to steal bags late, everybody obviously knows you’re stealing. You’re there to steal bags and get into scoring position. But I get to do a lot more studying on the tendencies of the pitcher and maybe what the catcher does that gives some things away. So there’s more studying thought-process into that situation than if I’m in the lineup that night.”
In six minor-league seasons, Ellis has 223 stolen bases and been caught 31 times in 439 games. He has played for four organizations: the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. He was claimed by the Yankees off waivers from the M’s on August 26, 2024.
Ellis also appeared in 11 MLB games in 2024 with the White Sox (8) and Yankees (3) and has five stolen bases without ever getting caught. His lone hit in the majors came with the Yankees on September 4th at Texas — a ninth-inning single off Grant Anderson.
With the RailRiders this season, Ellis is batting .237 (55 for 232) with 10 doubles, three triples, four home runs, and 21 RBIs.
“The team is doing solid and I feel like if the team is going good, then individually you’re going good,” Ellis said. “Me, as an individual player, I feel like it’s going solid. You have you’re ups and downs, just like what baseball is. But I have a good group of guys around me, so my lows aren’t that low and my highs aren’t that high. They keep me pretty even keel.”
This season is the final stop for the RailRiders.
Team officials announced that it will rebrand for the 2027 season. The new name has already been chosen and approved by Major League Baseball and will be unveiled in early November. In a statement, team officials said the new name will “celebrate the region’s beauty, heritage and outdoor legacy.”
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre began in 1989 as the Red Barons, Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. In 2007, when it became the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, the team was known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. After PNC Field underwent a season-long renovation in 2012, a “Name the Team” contest was held and RailRiders was the winner starting with the 2013 campaign, beating out five other finalists (Blast, Black Diamond Bears, Fireflies, Porcupines, and Trolley Frogs).
Along with the rebrand, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre also revealed its 2027 schedule. It will open next season on the road with a three-game series at the Worcester Red Sox on March 26-28, followed by a six-game series at the Buffalo Bisons on March 30-April 4. Its home-opening series at PNC Field is April 6-11 against the intrastate rival Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The season concludes at home Sept. 14-19 with a series against the Rochester Red Wings.
In the 150-game schedule, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will face traditional northeast opponents Buffalo, Lehigh Valley, Rochester, and the Syracuse Mets 24 times each — two six-game home series and two six-game road series. It will play Worcester 18 times (9 home, 9 away).
One of the highlights of the schedule is the first-time meeting with the Memphis Redbirds, Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, on May 11-16 at AutoZone Park in Tennessee. Besides Memphis, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre again will make road trips to face the Indianapolis Indians (June 8-13) and Iowa Cubs (Sept. 7-12). It visited both those cities this season.
Other opponents coming to PNC Field next season include the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (June 15-20), Charlotte Knights (June 22-27) and Toledo Mud Hens (July 20-25).
