It may only be for two games, but Dee Gordon draws a nice match-up against the Tigers to start the week. Gordon is already in mid-season SAGNOF form, hitting over .400 with 3 steals entering Sunday’s game. Alex Avila can’t catch a cold. In 2013 he caught base stealers at a 17% clip. That was well below the 28% league average. Word on the street is that he spent the off-season catching up on Breaking Bad and True Detective instead of working on his times to second base, so here’s hoping the good times continue. Tuesday’s probable starter Anibal Sanchez gave up a steal every seven innings pitched last year and the battery should be an easy target for a speedster like Gordon. I found the info on Sanchez using the new SB Rates vs. SP tool here at Razzball. It’s a big help when deciding which pitcher’s to target for stolen bases in your daily match-ups.
There was a tear in the fabric of the SAGNOF universe during Opening Week. Pedro Alvarez stole a base off of Yadier Molina while Billy Hamilton was caught. Black is white. up is down. We’ve gone through the looking glass, folks. Seriously though, Hamilton looks lost. Good thing we have SAGNOF options for all of us schlubs who didn’t draft him in the first five rounds. Here are this week’s steals plays…
Outfield
David Lough – (@NYY, TOR)
Toronto has given up seven stolen bases entering Sunday, which is the most in the majors. Showalter has stated that he’d like to see Lough in the leadoff spot as much as possible. This would obviously really help his value if it’s indeed the case. He already has two stolen bases this year in 16 plate appearances.
Rajai Davis – (@LAD, @SD)
Rajai continues to do Rajai things (a homer and a steal in three games) and judging by his low ownership numbers he’s going to be available on the wire in a lot of leagues throughout the season. Ausmus has used him pretty selectively to start the year, but keep your eye on him if he starts get more consistent plate appearances even as a pinch runner/bench bat.
Lorenzo Cain – (TB, @MIN)
We won’t get trampled racing to pick up Cain off of the wire, but he has two steals already this year. He hits in the bottom half of the lineup but has the potential to swipe 15-20 bags on the run-happy Royals this season.
Alexi Amarista – (@CLE, DET)
Amarista is like Emilio Bonifacio in that he’s eligible at both middle infield and outfield postitions. He isn’t guaranteed playing time, but he’s made the most of the time he’s had with two steals and a homer against the Marlins. For steals, there’s a favorable matchup against Detroit later this week.
Middle Infield
Adeiny Hechavarria – (@WSH, @PHI)
Hechavarria is competing with Jeff Samardzija for the top honors in world’s hardest name to spell. Washington and Philly are both good match-ups for steals, and even when Adeiny isn’t getting on base, he’s been hitting the ball on the nose. There’s rain in the forecast in Philly, but he should still see A.J. Burnett at some point this weekend. Burnett is notorious for giving up stolen bases. Don’t expect big numbers across the season (18 SB was the most he ever had in the minors) but for this week it’s a decent match-up in deep leagues.
Chris Owings – (@SF, LAD)
It’s probably unfair to list Owings in a SAGNOF post since he’s actually a good offensive player all-around. He’s stolen three bases already and could be well on his way to a 10-15 or even 10-20 type season for owners who scooped him up off of the waiver wire. He hit 12 homers with 20 steals last year in Triple-A. The steals might dry up temporarily this week with two tough match-ups against the Giants and Dodgers.
Emilio Bonifacio – (PIT, @STL)
So I’ve seen trade offers and massive amounts of FAAB dollars being spent as folks try to acquire Bonifacio. Hes’ great. He could steal 30-40 bases even with limited playing time, and that’s what SAGNOF is all about. I’m just not sure I see him keeping it up and he’ll be more of a match-ups play again in the near future. He had some success against Russell Martin last week, but it doesn’t get any easier this week as he’ll draw Martin again along with Molina. One matchup I would look at though is Charlie Morton on Tuesday. According to the SB Rate vs. SP tool, Morton allowed a steal every seven innings pitched last year (similar to Sanchez mentioned above).
Mike’s on Twitter @643ball
