Was wondering if we all might benefit from putting together a list/rankings of the best catchers to steal against, giving Razzballers a leg up on who to start should they be in need of steals and have a 4th/5th OF they can spot start to pad their stats.

Seems like it would be a beneficial tool to help make those tough decisions, as well as giving us a hint as to which days might be most beneficial to bench a SAGNOF, in favor of another bench bat.


Any ideas where such a list/rankings could be found.....where we could mine the necessary data to put together such a list (say, a composite of 2011/12 thrown out %'s?).....or how we could talk Rudy or Grey into making this a topic worthy of an article?

Yeah, put it together!

ESPN's "daily notes" has a 1-10 ranking for steals under the hitter's tab. Not sure if it is any good but it is there.

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseb ... otes120421

Couple of places have taken this on within the last year:

http://www.fanduel.com/insider/2011/09/ ... es-part-1/

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2011/7 ... ly-edition

Although it does appear the second is more about overall defense.

A rough rankings of the top ten starting catchers/teams that you want your SAGNOF's playing against....


1. Brian McCann - Atlanta Braves
2. AJ Pierzynski - Chicago Whitesox
3. Kurt Suzuki - Oakland Athletics
4. John Buck - Miami Marlins
5. JP Arencibia - Toronto Blue Jays
6. Geovany Soto - Chicago Cubs
7. Carlos Ruiz - Philadelphia Phillies
8. Miguel Olivo - Seattle Mariners
9. Johnathan Lucroy - Milwakee Brewers
10. Alex Avila - Detroit Tigers


Guys you're less likely to get production from your SAGNOF's against....


1. Yadier Molina - St.Louis Cardinals
2. Miguel Montero - Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Matt Weiters - Baltimore Orioles

Thanks for coming up with this, but I wonder if it's more SP based than C based?

I think it's a combination of things.

1. The quality of Pitcher's pick-off moves (How large of a lead the runner can take).
2. The Pitcher's pace/release to the plate (Fast/slow stride towards home plate).
3. The speed/type of pitch ( Article about how little time batters have to react to Aroldis Chapman's fastball http://www.fantasybaseballdugout.com/20 ... ction-tim/) (A 103 mph fastball will get to home plate faster than a low-80s off-speed pitch).
4. And then the catcher's accuracy and arm.

I assume that MLB ball-clubs have all of these statistics available to them. Seems like the next level of statistics teams would collect/track. But I wonder, for our entirely unscientific and purely fantasy baseball usage, if video games, like MLB 2K12, could sufficient (unless someone has an in with an actual Major League team). Video games are trying to classify and rate every possible characteristic about sports and I wonder if this is readily available on the internet.

Unfortunately, I am not terribly familiar with MLB 2K12, but thought this might be a different and unique approach to the problem/leg up that Razzballers are trying to achieve.

The list I provided above, takes much of that into account.......factoring in the success rate of the catchers throwing, but also the amount of attempts they have against them (which factors in the pitchers in the rotation, and the success rate guys have against them).

Those Teams/Catchers, are in my estimation the best bet you have to garner steals if you have a SAGNOF on your bench, that you can swap into your lineup.