It’s always nice when you come off of the DL to find yourself in a series at Coors, but Cameron Maybin really came out of the chute with a bang. With 4 steals in 3 games through Saturday, he jumped right back on the radar as a rosterable outfielder in mixed leagues with his performance. Of course, here at Razzball he was already on your radar from Grey’s BUY on Friday and my post from two weeks ago in which I said “15-20 SB ROS isn’t out of the realm of possibility, and I’m stashing him with cautious optimism”…and that’s me quot- well, you know the rest. Over the past three seasons (2011-2013), Maybin is 13th on the MLB leaderboard in stolen bases with 69. He has been caught only 16 times and his 7.6 Spd rating, a metric developed by Bill James to measure a player’s base running, is 7th overall in that span. Even in a pretty disappointing 2012 campaign, he managed 26 steals. The next few weeks will be a test for both Maybin’s hitting as well as his base running. Three of the Padres’ next four opponents (D’Backs, Dodgers, and Braves) are in the top ten in MLB for fewest steals allowed. I’ve always liked Maybin, and wrote about him as a potential bounce-back for 2013 in my very first article for Razzball. For right now, though, my recommendation would be to pick him up if you are in need of an outfielder, without expecting much help outside of the SB category. His speed is comparable to fellow SAGNOFs Ben Revere or Juan Pierre but he’s got the most upside of the bunch.
| 2013 MLB SB Allowed (as of 6/8/13) | |
| Red Light (CS%, rank) | Green Light |
| Orioles (47%, T- 1st) | Angels |
| Yankees | Rays |
| Cardinals | Tigers |
| Twins | Cubs |
| Mets | Red Sox |
| D’Backs* | Pirates |
| Reds | Phillies |
| Dodgers (47%, T- 1st) | Mariners |
| Braves | Giants |
| Rangers | Padres |
|
Notes: The Marlins have caught 23 of 54 baserunners, good for a 43% CS% (2nd in MLB) Not only have the Angels allowed the most SB so far this year, their CS% of 15% is ranked 27th *The D’Backs have only allowed 20 SB all year, but their CS% is the worst in MLB at 13%. |
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All players listed are available in at least 50% of ESPN leagues.
DJ LeMahieu – DJ swiped a bag last week, although he didn’t do much else, hitting a meager .240. If you’re in a deep league, he’s got two favorable matchups this coming week at home against the Nationals and Phillies.
Leonys Martin – Martin was a bust last week, with 1 hit and no steals through Saturday. Hits and steals can come in bunches however, so I’m not ready to give up on him. He’ll draw the Indians and Blue Jays this week. The Blue Jays have only allowed 31 SBs on the year, but they also have the 4th worst CS% in baseball at 18%. Martin will have to get on base for any of that to matter, though.
Juan Pierre – Pierre started to hit a little bit again last week and swiped 2 bags, both of which came against his former team the Phils (he actually had 3 attempts in that game but was caught once). As long as he’s un-owned in the majority of leagues, you’re going to see him on my list for SAGNOF. He now has 16 on the season and should eclipse the 30 steal mark yet again. Slow clap for the folks who didn’t drop him during his most recent cold spell, but I wouldn’t rush to pick him up unless you’re desperate. He’ll face the Brewers and Cardinals this week.
Pedro Florimon – Like LeMahieu, Florimon is more of a deep league middle infield type, but he’s got some speed, and he’s also got two good match-ups against the Phillies and Tigers coming up.
Rajai Davis – Davis returned from the DL this week and, like Maybin, wasted no time getting back into the steals mix. He went 2-5 with a steal on Saturday and should slide back into a platoon situation for the Blue Jays. He’s not reliable for playing time, but even with 3 – 4 starts a week, he could steal as many bags of as any of the other guys listed here. He’ll face the White Sox and Rangers.
