Because I am always late to the writing party, I figured why not just add another Bryce Harper column, but with a Michael Taylor happy ending. So what’s-his-face got hurt and now Mike Taylor returns from the DL to save the day. Gone one day and BH is now what’s-his-face. It sucks, but injuries happen. That is why waivers and free agent pools exist. So before Taylor inured his oblique in early July, he was on a torrid pace that was making him an asset for fantasy. Now what capabilities will he have with that injured oblique? Since this is the SAGNOF report, we only care about one thing. Increasing his SB total from 10. The thing in his favor is that the Nationals lineup is going to change slightly. Because of the absence of “some guy”. Small ball and base-to-base stuff still wins and it may have to happen without a middle of the lineup thumper (besides Zimmerman). I can’t believe I just called him a thumper, well… suspend disbelief for a minute and just assume I didn’t mean it. Taylor may take a few days to get into the swing of things but Bryce isn’t walking through the door anytime soon, so at-bats and top of the order stuff are coming. Happy SAGNOF’n!
Catchers to Cheat On:
| Name | SB | CS |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Vogt | 46 | 7 |
| Tyler Flowers | 45 | 10 |
| J.T. Realmuto | 45 | 23 |
| Francisco Cervelli | 44 | 11 |
| Brian McCann | 44 | 7 |
| Kevan Smith | 43 | 3 |
| Russell Martin | 42 | 12 |
| Matt Wieters | 41 | 17 |
| Miguel Montero | 40 | 3 |
| Mike Zunino | 40 | 9 |
| Caleb Joseph | 38 | 8 |
| James McCann | 38 | 15 |
| Omar Narvaez | 37 | 11 |
| Salvador Perez | 37 | 15 |
| Travis d’Arnaud | 36 | 8 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 34 | 20 |
*Willson Contreras would be the most vulnerable but he is on the DL.
Pitchers To Steal Against:
| Name | SB’s | SB Opps | OBPa |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Pelfrey | 22 | 158 | .357 |
| Julio Teheran | 21 | 204 | .336 |
| Yu Darvish | 19 | 199 | .289 |
| Jake Arrieta | 17 | 186 | .302 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | 17 | 187 | .350 |
| Mike Fiers | 16 | 193 | .332 |
| Jaime Garcia | 16 | 186 | .388 |
| Trevor Cahill | 15 | 105 | .351 |
| Corey Kluber | 15 | 144 | .243 |
| Jason Hammel | 14 | 214 | .322 |
| Jimmy Nelson | 14 | 206 | .314 |
| J.C. Ramirez | 14 | 214 | .332 |
| Jon Lester | 13 | 180 | .304 |
| Aaron Nola | 13 | 178 | .285 |
Byron Buxton – Another 14 days and another 4 stolen bases. This time with a decent .316 batting average behind it. Late season surges are his bag, or purse maybe. At some point he is going to just be a 10 HR, 30 stolen base guy. You know how common and boring those are though…
Kaleb Cowart – Cheap steals are cheap steals. This is his third straight stint in the majors in three years. Has teen-steal speed in every season in the minors and 3 in 56 plate appearances so far. Added second base eligibility to go along with 3B makes him an easy insert for a short day.
Whit Merrifield – Dumb question, but is he a top 5? 8? Second-sacker next year? Has gone 14/19 and is about 100 less at bats than the normal guy. Just curious if anyone cares or thinks about these things.
Trevor Hildenberger – A WC chase knows no loyalty and it’s not spelled HILDENBERGER. Expect it to go down in flames somewhere in NJ.
Tyler Clippard – Now goes to the reliever assembly line in Houston
Juan Minaya – The bleached Sox have a ton of retreads and some also-rans in the minors. Jake Petricka and two other guys in the minors with career saves (Farquhar and Mark Lowe).
