With a month off of our full 162-game schedule, we have to work that much harder to claw and scrape our way in each category throughout the five-months remaining on the schedule. If you work at it as diligently in May as you may in September you can put yourself in a good spot to not sweat the final few weeks.
Throughout draft season you hear it from every angle: You have to prioritize stolen bases early. Easier said than done though right? I’m here to tell you there’s still hope. You either have too much speed or not enough. This series will be focused on the latter.
If there’s a category to make up ground in, it’ll typically be stolen bases. Each week I’ll be providing a couple of options that may be sitting on your wire that have a good shot at getting you at least one more bag. I’m going for the deep cuts and focusing only on players owned in less than 20% of leagues, per Yahoo, which typically focus on leagues with 12 teams.
This list will change week to week, but you’ll continue to see a general theme. The picks will be focused not just on the speedsters that are generally undrafted, but mostly on sneaky pickups that can take advantage of their matchups, may it be with an offense-first catcher or a starting pitcher with a history of focusing solely on what’s in front of them and ignoring the baserunners. Before we move on to this week’s recommendations, let’s see how last week’s speedsters faired.
Last Week’s Results
Myles Straw (HOU) – 2 SB
Who needs to lead off to steal bases, right? Straw may have only gone three for fourteen in the first five days of the week, but he did swipe a pair of bags against Seattle, which is what we’re going for here, so that was nice.
Adolis Garcia (TEX) – 1 SB
The rookie in Texas keeps making noise, and though he failed to go yard thus far this week he did start off the week with his first stolen base of the season. Garcia is now rostered in 45% of leagues so you won’t be seeing him on this list again for the foreseeable future.
Nicky Lopez (KC) – 0 SB
Lopez hasn’t yet attempted a stolen base, but that’s hard to do when you aren’t getting on base. Unfortunately Lopez has only made it to the base paths three times of one hit and two walks through the first five days of the week. There’s always the weekend.
Taylor Trammell (SEA), Hunter Dozier (KC), Jon Berti (MIA) – 0 SB combined
The not so honorable trio have failed to produce on the base paths this week. Even with the added playing time, Jon Berti is still just 15% rostered in Yahoo! so as Miami sees better match ups I would expect to see Berti back on this list again, especially if he continues to see every day playing time.
One other thing to consider here is that these matchups are always subject to change, as most things are, and most of these suggestions are best served in a league with daily moves. Weekly adds can still be considered in a pretty deep league, but know that this is only focused on the possibility of stealing bases, even at the expense of other categories. So, after that disclaimer, let’s see who’s poised to run over the next week who may be available in your league:
Since being called back up to Wrigley, Hoerner has already collected three multi-hit performances to go along with a 17.1% walk rate. Stats like that will continue to put the Cubs’ prospect in plenty of stolen base opportunities moving forward. Luckily, the Cubs have shown their affinity to run as they sit sixth in the league in both stolen base attempts (21) and attempts per opportunity (6.21%). Hoerner’s home to first speed of 4.24 seconds ranks him 16th in baseball thus far this season, while his 28.7 ft/sec spring speed has him ranked 24th, right in line with the likes of Manuel Margot and Jazz Chisholm.
Heading into the week, the Cubs host the Dodgers and Pirates for a total of six home games. Hoerner should be able to take advantage two of the worst backstop situations in the majors, as measured by stolen bases allowed anyway. Each of Jacob Stallings (PIT), Will Smith (LAD), and Austin Barnes (LAD) have allowed at least 14 stolen bases in the first month of the season, while each of them have only thrown out three would be base stealers.
Elvis Andrus, Oakland Athletics
Andrus has made the list before and he’ll continue as long as he stays streamable with a 7% roster rate in Yahoo! and continues to play every day for the Athletics. Andrus has never been the fastest guy, but has shown the ability to be a smart base runner and makes the most of the opportunities given. He has stolen three bases this season without being caught and should be able to add to the total going up against Alejandro Kirk/Danny Jansen of the Blue Jays and Mike Zunino of the Rays this coming week. Having a full seven game slate doesn’t hurt his chances, and perhaps the volume will counter balance the .202 OBP he put up in April. Oakland has run on 7.35% of their opportunities this season, putting them 5th in the league so as long as Andrus can start to get on base he should get a green light at some point this week.
Michael A. Taylor, Kansas City Royals
When in doubt, look for Royals to stream for stolen bases. Kansas City sits behind only San Diego for more attempts this season with 27, sending runners 9.47% of the time. With a seven game slate as well, the Royals should get plenty of opportunities to continue to run against Cleveland and the White Sox. Cleveland has only seen eight baserunners attempt to steal this season, but that comes due to the fact that most of their April competition simply do not make a habit of running. Michael A. Taylor is still available in 82% of Yahoo! leagues and sits third on his team with three successful swipes on the year. The Kansas City center fielder sports a 92nd percentile sprint speed this year and his .321 OBP should put him on base enough to take advantage of the opportunities presented. It doesn’t hurt that Zack Collins and Yasmani Grandal of the White Sox are a combined 4 for 18 on the season when it comes to throwing out would be base stealers.
Honorable Mentions
Austin Slater (SF) vs Dom Nunez (C, COL)
Mike Tauchman (SF) vs Dom Nunez (C, COL)
Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Michael Packard (@designsbypack on Twitter & IG)