In case you are not one of the many fantasy managers who decided to take the Javy Baez plunge, you may not realize quite how bad he has been for Detroit. His wRC+ is 69 among the worst in the league and he has not run nearly as much as expected. However, over the last week, Javy has shown signs of life. He has two homers and two stolen bases with an average over .300 in the last week. He is probably one of the streakiest players in the game so hopefully, this leads to a much longer hot streak for Baez and Tigers fans.
- Jarren Duran – Is it finally time the Red Sox let Duran play every day? Chances are low but we can hope and if we do there’s a ton of speed in the profile who should hit near the top of the order. Buy if available but know he could be sent down tomorrow.
- Luis Gonzalez – The Giants are known for their platoons and Gonzalez might be one guy who breaks that mold. He has led off each of the last seven games and has three homers and seven steals on the year. Many players might overlook Giants expecting platoons so he may be available in your leagues.
- Adam Engel – I always find myself buying into Engel in leagues. He does not necessarily play every day but he runs when he gets on base and has a history of showing enough power for 10-15. I think his long-term prospects might not be for a full-time player but if you are a desperate manager chasing speed there are much worse options.
The rest of the wire is likely to be pretty bare in terms of guys who can be above-average speed assets so stay on top of prospect callups if you are desperate for speed.
| Name | Team | SB | CS | CS% | Inn | SB/Inn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J.T. Realmuto | PHI | 15 | 12 | 44.4% | 494.1 | 0.03 |
| Victor Caratini | MIL | 12 | 9 | 42.9% | 260.2 | 0.05 |
| Sean Murphy | OAK | 15 | 10 | 40.0% | 445.1 | 0.03 |
| Kyle Higashioka | NYY | 9 | 6 | 40.0% | 299.1 | 0.03 |
| Robinson Chirinos | BAL | 11 | 7 | 38.9% | 305 | 0.04 |
| Yadier Molina | STL | 8 | 5 | 38.5% | 313.2 | 0.03 |
| Reese McGuire | CHW | 16 | 9 | 36.0% | 296 | 0.05 |
| Jose Trevino | NYY | 8 | 4 | 33.3% | 304 | 0.03 |
| Tyler Stephenson | CIN | 21 | 10 | 32.3% | 296.2 | 0.07 |
| Travis d’Arnaud | ATL | 20 | 9 | 31.0% | 406.1 | 0.05 |
| Jorge Alfaro | SDP | 9 | 4 | 30.8% | 290.2 | 0.03 |
| Omar Narvaez | MIL | 19 | 8 | 29.6% | 330.2 | 0.06 |
| Christian Vazquez | BOS | 22 | 9 | 29.0% | 417.1 | 0.05 |
| Tucker Barnhart | DET | 28 | 10 | 26.3% | 375 | 0.07 |
| Willson Contreras | CHC | 17 | 6 | 26.1% | 341.2 | 0.05 |
| Martin Maldonado | HOU | 17 | 5 | 22.7% | 419 | 0.04 |
| Elias Diaz | COL | 18 | 5 | 21.7% | 357 | 0.05 |
| Max Stassi | LAA | 19 | 5 | 20.8% | 346 | 0.05 |
| Yasmani Grandal | CHW | 23 | 6 | 20.7% | 260 | 0.09 |
| Mike Zunino | TBR | 16 | 4 | 20.0% | 299.1 | 0.05 |
Every week in this section I typically talk about the catchers to target for stolen bases. However, this week I wanted to look at the flip side and look at the toughest catchers to run on. Facing these catchers could give you a reason to bench your SB threat for that power hitter with a decent set of matchups for the week.
- J.T. Realmuto – He has been almost impossible to run on this season, throwing out nearly half of runners thus far. He faces the Braves and Cardinals next week. This may mean that guys who have been great like Harrison Bader might not be startable without the threat of steals.
- Sean Murphy – While the bat hasn’t been quite what we hoped from Murphy, he has been a well-above-average defender. The Athletics get the Mariners and Yankees next week. The Mariners have a few speed-only guys like Dylan Moore who you may be streaming for steals and will want to fade next week.
