Leody Of The Rings? Really? Ya. It kind of works. I mean, the Texas Rangers sure do have the firepower to make a run at the ‘one ring to rule them all’ – that elusive World Series ring.
But seriously, Razz-family. Don’t laugh. Beorn…er…bear with me.
I mean, the Rangers have their own little Fellowship rolling along at a pretty good clip these days. Texas is first in runs scored (441), first in team batting average (.272), and sits atop the RBI board with 423 (20 ahead of Tampa). I’m pretty sure when opposing pitchers make the journey into whatever Globe Life Park is called these days, they feel like they’re plunging headlong into their own personal Mount Doom.
As far as our Unexpected Party members are concerned, there are a few main warriors driving the attack – Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Adolis Garcia. After that, there are secondary characters that are providing some serious support – Nathan Eovaldi, Josh Jung, and Nathaniel Lowe. And lastly, there are a few of those quieter, lesser hyped up players like Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, and Jonah Heim giving some unpredicted boosts to the rest of the group.
But who’s playing the part of our tiny and underestimated hobbit? You know who I mean. The quiet, agile, lightning-fast guy that trails behind the much more aggressively swinging and noticeable top 8 in the batting order? That forgotten piece at the back of the group that could end up surprising everyone? That’s where Leody comes in. (And, for the record, I guess at 6’2”, he’s not all that tiny).
But why? Leody Taveras might seem like a name that’s been around for a while. I know that in the AL-only league I’ve mentioned before, it seems like we’ve been waiting a good 5+ years on a healthy Taveras. When will he finally get some full-time playing time to show off that 70-grade speed?
Without delving much into his minor league pedigree, Leody Taveras was the top prospect in the Texas organization as recently as 2021 (ranked 26th overall by Baseball Prospectus).
The scouting scores are there too. His calling card will always be the 70-grade speed and 70-grade defense, but the future hit tool and raw power score of 50 (for both) is something that points to some promising peak years in the majors outside of just another SAGNOF play.
This year? The Rangers are batting the 24 year old in the 9th spot, and have him acting as a second leadoff hitter ahead of Marcus Semien every time they roll the batting order over.
The line is pretty impressive. In 226 PA (58 GP), Taveras has 35 R, 8 HR, 32 RBI, 7 SB. The triple slash line is equally impressive, especially for a bottom of the order hitter, at .301/.356/.490.
I’m sure fans would know that the top of the Rangers lineup is about as intimidating as having to face a fire demon head on.
Who better to ask than the O.G. Ranger himself? Should we be hesitant to add Leody in our leagues?
I know the top half of a Balrog wouldn’t be fun to tangle with, but I wouldn’t want to have to deal with that flaming tail at the end, either.
If he keeps getting on base and keeps producing up to the potential that had him as a Rangers top prospect not all that long ago, Leody could go from a SAGNOF FAAB fill-in to a legit 4th/5th outfielder in leagues much sooner than later.
Speaking of guys with steals potential, how about those league leaders?
| NAME | TEAM | STOLEN BASES | CAUGHT STEALING | ON-BASE PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esteury Ruiz | Athletics | 37 | 7 | .323 |
| Ronald Acuna Jr. | Braves | 31 | 6 | .403 |
| Wander Franco | Rays | 24 | 7 | .355 |
| Bobby Witt Jr. | Royals | 22 | 6 | .288 |
| Ji-Hwan Bae | Pirates | 20 | 6 | .324 |
| Jorge Mateo | Orioles | 20 | 3 | .266 |
| Corbin Carroll | Diamondbacks | 19 | 2 | .384 |
| Starling Marte | Mets | 19 | 3 | .309 |
| Josh Lowe | Rays | 18 | 2 | .325 |
| Whit Merrifield | Blue Jays | 18 | 5 | .358 |
Ho Hum. It’s just another week at the office for Esteury. He led the league with 6 more SB over the last week. Oh, and he upped his OBP this week as well. He’s a good bet to crack the 70 SB mark this year if he keeps on burning, and I think it’s safe to say my preseason sleeper pick is firing on all cylinders.
How does this affect the team totals?
| TEAM | GAMES PLAYED | STOLEN BASES | CAUGHT STEALING | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rays | 76 | 96 | 25 | – |
| Reds | 74 | 78 | 21 | +1 |
| Athletics | 75 | 75 | 17 | +1 |
| Pirates | 72 | 72 | 24 | -2 |
| Diamondbacks | 74 | 67 | 12 | – |
| Padres | 73 | 61 | 13 | +4 |
| Brewers | 73 | 59 | 14 | -1 |
| Blue Jays | 75 | 59 | 19 | – |
| Orioles | 72 | 56 | 13 | -1 |
| Cubs | 73 | 56 | 16 | NR |
| Guardians | 72 | 55 | 15 | -2 |
A quick check in on some of the teams from our chart…
Cincinnati Reds
- Ok, it’s getting a bit silly now. I almost feel obligated to include the Reds here each week, but I don’t think anyone can argue that they’re not newsworthy. My not-so-bold prediction that Cinci would overtake the Pirates this week for the second spot on our list here came through. Yep. I’m a wizard.
Me, in need of a nail file, making SAGNOF predictions
- What might be a bit more surprising is that no Reds were atop the weekly board in steals. Instead, we had 2 from Spencer Steer and singles from TJ Friedl, Will Benson (checked 3X to make sure I didn’t write the Cleveland guy), Elly De La Cruz, and Jake Fraley. Three others had one each as well.
San Diego Padres
- Insert blinking guy gif here. Wait, what? Where did these guys come from? Not only did they break onto (into?) our team list, but they leapfrogged 4 of the current teams to land in the 6 spot!
- Fittingly over the Father’s Day week, two of the San Diego Dads superstars led the charge. Fernando Tatis Jr. had 4 SB and Xander Bogaerts had 3.
- Trent Grisham, Ha Seong Kim, and Manny Machado each chipped in with one apiece.
Some names not on the list from the last 7 days
- This one is more of a merge from both lists here. Here are some guys that produced the last 7 days that don’t appear on the leaderboard individually or in the top teams.
- Tommy Edman had 3 steals over the past 7 days.
- Other names to watch that had three SB over the last week? Julio Rodriguez, Thairo Estrada, Nick Madrigal, and speed-but-nothing-else Neto replacement Andrew Velazquez.
And, finally, the teams you’ll want to stream against for the next 7 days. This is the ‘cream of the crap’, so to speak.
Should we be worried about these catchers?
| TEAM | OPP. SB% | NEXT 7 GAMES | PRIMARY CATCHER | CS% (CS/ATTEMPTS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlins | 90.4 | TOR/PIT | Nick Fortes | .081 (3/37) |
| Dodgers | 89.1 | @LAA/HOU | Will Smith | .093 (4/43) |
| Pirates | 88.2 | CHC/@MIA | Austin Hedges | .135 (5/37) |
| Angels | 85.2 | LAD/@COL/CWS | Matt Thaiss | .136 (3/22) |
| Mets | 84.7 | @HOU/@PHI/MIL | Francisco Alvarez | .113 (6/53) |
- I said it last week, and it’s almost too sad to type again, but Austin Barnes is almost as bad as his catching partner. He’s checking in at 5/49 or a cool .102 CS%.
- Matt Thaiss looks like he’s losing time in LAA to Chad Wallach. Well, it’s certainly not because of a significant step up on defense. Wallach is 3/17. That’s “good” for a .173 CS%.
- The magic palantir was working again in MarmosDad HQ this week. I asked when the Pirates were finally going to make the move to call up one of their hot shot rookie catchers to replace Austin Hedges. Well, the good news is it was not long after I posted last week. The bad news? For me, at least? It wasn’t Endy Rodriguez. Henry Davis is worth a look if you need a catcher replacement.
We’ll finish with the profile of the week. In these, I’ll reference the Hittertron SB$ value here just so you can see what kind of roto-dollars the guy is projected to earn over the next 7 days.
Just a reminder that you can have full access to all of this, along with Streamonator and Relievonator (and more) with our 2023 Razzball Fantasy Baseball Subscriptions.
Corbin Carroll – ARI – OF : SB$ – $1.4 (3rd overall)
I’ve been doing more of the deeper dives with these profiles the last few weeks. At risk of shining the light too brightly on those AL or NL only leagues, I wanted to go the opposite way this week and have a look at the Hittertron for SB$ leaders over the next 7 days.
Not to show off the present before it’s wrapped, (if you like that kind of thing, you can have a peek at all of this if you subscribe to Rudy’s tools in the link above), but the next 7 days of steals guys have some of the usual suspects and some others that you’d expect.
Ronald Acuna Jr. leads the SB$ with a projected $2.2. Just behind him at $2.0 is the burgeoning mancrush that is Esteury Ruiz.
Carroll slots into a three-way tie for third here (at $1.4) with Jake McCarthy and Jorge Mateo.
At first glance, it looks like a good choice if you pick any of these guys as far as streaming for steals is concerned.
But if you dig a bit deeper, do you think there really is a better option here than Carroll?
Over the past two weeks, Jorge Mateo has registered a pretty abysmal .216 OBP. Jake McCarthy’s OBP has been better than Mateo’s (.377).
Carroll’s OBP over the last 15 days sits at a pretty healthy .426 (good for 15th in the NL over that span). He’s facing Milwaukee, Washington, and San Francisco. Two of those three teams have some of the worst catchers in CS% on the year. (Victor Caratini is at .103 CS% while Keibert Ruiz is at .159).
I’m sure you need me to pump Corbin Carroll’s tires as much as Gandalf the Grey needs some YouTube pipe filling tutorials, but at the very least Carroll looks like he’s set up to have the most productive week among our three $1.4 ranked hitters on Hittertron here.
Play him with confidence, even in those shallowest of shallow leagues, and especially if you need to make up some SB ground. (Not that you were sitting him anyway!)
That’s all, Razzfolks! If you have any ideas of players that you want a deeper look at, drop them in the comments. As always, if you have any questions or thoughts, you can always catch me here or @MarmosDad on Twitter. Good luck with your SAGNOF plays this week!
