Jon Berti is quite honestly one of the most fascinating players that has “popped” this season. In the last two weeks, he has swiped eight bases with an average just below .300. Berti has done something like this, with 17 steals in just 297 PAs in 2019. In 2020, he had nice steals in the shortened season but then in 2021, the PT dried up a bit and the average was not as high as it’s been in the past. He does not have much power but should be able to carry a high average and swipe a ton of bags as long as he keeps playing. Add him where available.
The rest of the leaderboard over the last two weeks is full of expected names with very little available on the wire. There are a few interesting names a bit further down for shallower leagues, however.
- Ezequiel Duran – Duran has two homers and two steals since getting the call and had seven steals in AA this season. He swiped 19 across levels in 2021 and has some power speed appeal. The added bonus is he should get bags at third base where they are harder to come across.
- Thairo Estrada and Amed Rosario – I group these two together since they are somewhat similar. Estrada was added a ton early in leagues and may have been dropped as the Giants got healthier. Rosario struggled a ton early but he’s getting back on track and has started to run again. If either of these guys are dropped you should add them.
- Isiah Kiner-Falefa – Another guy I could’ve included above is IKF. He has yet to hit a homer but the average is usable and he has been aggressive on the bases. This is a rough week to be looking for stolen base guys on the wire so check to see if any of these guys are available in your leagues.
- There is a good amount of chatter suggesting Oneil Cruz will get a call-up. If he’s available he is worth a stash right now.
| Name | Team | SB | CS | CS% | Inn | SB/Inn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Stallings | MIA | 30 | 6 | 16.7% | 385 | 0.08 |
| Jonah Heim | TEX | 28 | 3 | 9.7% | 319.2 | 0.09 |
| Austin Hedges | CLE | 28 | 7 | 20.0% | 342.2 | 0.08 |
| Ryan Jeffers | MIN | 24 | 3 | 11.1% | 319 | 0.08 |
| Yasmani Grandal | CHW | 23 | 6 | 20.7% | 260 | 0.09 |
| Tucker Barnhart | DET | 23 | 9 | 28.1% | 351 | 0.07 |
| Keibert Ruiz | WSN | 23 | 11 | 32.4% | 386.1 | 0.06 |
| Cal Raleigh | SEA | 22 | 6 | 21.4% | 277 | 0.08 |
| Will Smith | LAD | 21 | 5 | 19.2% | 357.2 | 0.06 |
| Austin Nola | SDP | 21 | 3 | 12.5% | 315 | 0.07 |
| Tyler Stephenson | CIN | 21 | 10 | 32.3% | 296.2 | 0.07 |
| Christian Vazquez | BOS | 20 | 8 | 28.6% | 372.1 | 0.05 |
| Travis d’Arnaud | ATL | 19 | 8 | 29.6% | 371.1 | 0.05 |
| Max Stassi | LAA | 19 | 5 | 20.8% | 300 | 0.06 |
| Omar Narvaez | MIL | 18 | 7 | 28.0% | 295.2 | 0.06 |
| Joey Bart | SFG | 17 | 3 | 15.0% | 256.2 | 0.07 |
| Elias Diaz | COL | 16 | 5 | 23.8% | 339 | 0.05 |
| Martin Maldonado | HOU | 16 | 5 | 23.8% | 383 | 0.04 |
| Mike Zunino | TBR | 16 | 4 | 20.0% | 299.1 | 0.05 |
| Reese McGuire | CHW | 15 | 8 | 34.8% | 277 | 0.05 |
We have often found ourselves targeting the same catchers over and over again but that will continue to be a winning strategy for stolen base streaming.
- Jacob Stallings – Stallings continues to struggle to throw out runners this season and teams are taking advantage. The Marlins have the Mets and the Rockies next week. The Mets’ stolen base options are likely all owned but start them all with confidence. From the Rockie side, there’s not much speed to be concerned with but Jose Iglesias might swipe a bag making him a fringe streamer. Yonathan Daza is another guy with a deep history in the minors of speed but has yet to show it at the MLB level.
- Jonah Heim – The Rangers have a short week next week in terms of games played but they get the Nationals and Phillies. This means a bump for guys on the Nationals especially making Luis Garcia and Lane Thomas slightly more valuable. Victor Robles could also see himself having a nice weeks speed wise and could turn him into a fringe-startable player in deep leagues.
