The best part of stolen bases is that they can save a fantasy profile. For example, two outfielders who have underperformed relative to many managers’ hopes are Randy Arozarena and Christian Yelich. Both players are hitting around .250 with only eight homers thus far when many hoped for 20+ over the course of an entire season with hopefully higher averages. However, Yelich has 13 steals and Arozarena has 18. This is helping to keep them as top 20 OF options according to the Razzball player rater.
- Rafael Ortega – Ortega has three steals in the last two weeks and finds himself on the strong side of a platoon. There’s some pop in the profile and he leads off so in daily leagues he’s a good streaming option to have on your bench.
- Nick Senzel – We as fantasy managers cannot quite quit this guy. There are still profile flaws but he’s been on fire the last two-plus weeks and he swiped three bags. He may not be available in most higher stakes leagues but check your wire in home leagues.
- Jonathan Davis – The injury to Tyrone Taylor has given Davis a full complement of at-bats in CF for the Brewers. He’s a big drag in BA and pretty much everything else but speed is speed and he certainly has it. Try to get a few bags and get him out as soon as possible.
- Jonathan Villar – Villar was claimed by the Angels this week and should see regular at-bats in that lineup. There is no reason not to let him run so make sure he’s not owned in your league.
Let’s take another look at the catcher landscape and see if there are any edges we can attack this week.
| Name | Team | SB | CS | CS% | Inn | SB/Inn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah Heim | TEX | 38 | 8 | 17.4% | 446.1 | 0.09 |
| Jacob Stallings | MIA | 35 | 5 | 12.5% | 482 | 0.07 |
| Tucker Barnhart | DET | 32 | 9 | 22.0% | 423 | 0.08 |
| Austin Hedges | CLE | 32 | 6 | 15.8% | 402.2 | 0.08 |
| Keibert Ruiz | WSN | 31 | 7 | 18.4% | 510.1 | 0.06 |
| Austin Nola | SDP | 30 | 12 | 28.6% | 416.2 | 0.07 |
| Cal Raleigh | SEA | 30 | 15 | 33.3% | 426 | 0.07 |
| Ryan Jeffers | MIN | 29 | 8 | 21.6% | 416.1 | 0.07 |
| Travis d’Arnaud | ATL | 27 | 9 | 25.0% | 468.1 | 0.06 |
| Elias Diaz | COL | 27 | 9 | 25.0% | 451 | 0.06 |
| Christian Vazquez | BOS | 26 | 3 | 10.3% | 506.1 | 0.05 |
| Will Smith | LAD | 26 | 4 | 13.3% | 476.2 | 0.05 |
| Max Stassi | LAA | 24 | 4 | 14.3% | 412.2 | 0.06 |
| Omar Narvaez | MIL | 24 | 10 | 29.4% | 392.2 | 0.06 |
| Tomas Nido | NYM | 22 | 5 | 18.5% | 386 | 0.06 |
| Alejandro Kirk | TOR | 22 | 10 | 31.3% | 361 | 0.06 |
| Willson Contreras | CHC | 20 | 4 | 16.7% | 386 | 0.05 |
| Martin Maldonado | HOU | 18 | 0.0% | 496.2 | 0.04 | |
| Sean Murphy | OAK | 18 | 0.0% | 530.1 | 0.03 | |
| J.T. Realmuto | PHI | 17 | 0.0% | 578.1 | 0.03 |
- Teams continue to attack Jonah Heim and the Athletics and Mariners are on tap for next week. The Athletics have a few streamable speed options like Ramon Laureano and Tony Kemp. The Mariners have a few part-time players who get bumps this week like Sam Haggerty and Dylan Moore. If you can time when these guys play they could pay dividends for your lineups.
- Another young offense-first catcher who has allowed a significant number of stolen bases is Kiebert Ruiz. The young National has allowed 31 SBs on the year and next week gets the Mariners and the Braves. As mentioned above this is a big boost for the Mariners this week so look to stream their speed options. The Braves are a good offense so there may not be many wire options available there. Orlando Arcia could be one or even Eddie Rosario could be available in many leagues as he returned from his eye surgery this week. He may be one of the better players available on wires ROS.
We are getting past the halfway mark of seasons now and there is certainly still time to make moves and improve your teams. Stay active because you never know what could happen over the course of a season. Best of luck to all.
