Throughout the several weeks, I have been writing these pieces, I have covered a wide variety of players but one name has slipped through the cracks. That player is of course Texas Ranger Eli White. White has eight stolen bases on the year tied for fifth in baseball. He has also recently seemingly overtaken the leadoff spot for the Rangers. While the team as a whole isn’t great, there are some good bats at the top and he could become a SB and runs scored star. There is too much swing and miss in his game to likely keep a high average but there’s potential value there. Let’s discuss a few more guys who are making waves in the speed categories.
Kyle Tucker – There is no chance he is available in leagues but he is tied with White for fifth in steals. If he keeps running at this pace he has a shot at a 30/30 season and a top-five fantasy season could follow
Andrew Velazquez – Velasquez was previously discussed in this column but he seems to be a full-time starter for the Angels. The numbers other than speed will be ugly but if you are desperate for speed you could do worse
Vidal Brujan – Brujan is one of the most prolific base stealers in the minors the last few seasons and with the Rays current injury situation, he should get a chance at a full-time role. He has struggled offensively to this point but anyone with speed and at-bats is worth adding. There’s an upside here.
Adam Engel – Predicting what Tony La Russa will do is a fool’s errand but he seems to love Engel. He is likely sharing time with Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets but there’s been power in the profile before and he has five steals already. He may be worth a spec add.
Name | Team | SB | CS | CS% | Inn | SB/Inn |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jacob Stallings | MIA | 19 | 5 | 20.8% | 235.1 | 0.08 |
Austin Hedges | CLE | 18 | 5 | 21.7% | 218.2 | 0.08 |
Tucker Barnhart | DET | 16 | 6 | 27.3% | 213 | 0.08 |
Christian Vazquez | BOS | 14 | 6 | 30.0% | 199.2 | 0.07 |
Tyler Stephenson | CIN | 13 | 6 | 31.6% | 163 | 0.08 |
Joey Bart | SFG | 13 | 2 | 13.3% | 182.1 | 0.07 |
Austin Nola | SDP | 13 | 0 | 0.0% | 188 | 0.07 |
Travis d’Arnaud | ATL | 13 | 7 | 35.0% | 220 | 0.06 |
Jonah Heim | TEX | 12 | 3 | 20.0% | 150 | 0.08 |
Will Smith | LAD | 12 | 2 | 14.3% | 196.2 | 0.06 |
Max Stassi | LAA | 11 | 2 | 15.4% | 169 | 0.07 |
Ryan Jeffers | MIN | 11 | 1 | 8.3% | 194 | 0.06 |
Willson Contreras | CHC | 11 | 4 | 26.7% | 200 | 0.06 |
Dom Nunez | COL | 10 | 3 | 23.1% | 92 | 0.11 |
Riley Adams | WSN | 10 | 4 | 28.6% | 95.2 | 0.11 |
Mitch Garver | TEX | 10 | 2 | 16.7% | 124 | 0.08 |
Reese McGuire | CHW | 10 | 3 | 23.1% | 164 | 0.06 |
Alejandro Kirk | TOR | 10 | 4 | 28.6% | 181 | 0.06 |
Omar Narvaez | MIL | 10 | 4 | 28.6% | 191 | 0.05 |
Cal Raleigh | SEA | 9 | 4 | 30.8% | 116 | 0.08 |
So far this season it seems that teams have been aggressive against the Marlins, Guardians, and Tigers. However, another name to make note of is Jonah Heim who seems to be someone that runners are taking advantage of on a per inning basis.
Miami Marlins – The Marlins have a five-game week next week with two against the Rays and three against the Braves. This gives a bump for guys like Brujan, Randu Arozarena, Taylor Walls for the Rays and Albies, Acuna, and others for the Braves.
Texas Rangers – The Rangers get the Athletics and the Angels next week. The Athletics’ offense has been putrid and it’s hard to trust their hitters so we can focus on the Angels. Velasquez as previously mentioned in this article is worth a stab and others like Tyler Wade and Brandon Marsh could run some more.
Guardians and Tigers – These two teams match up next week with Cleveland also getting the Astros and the Tigers getting the Twins. There are likely not too many players available on those teams in free agency but you can start your speed based players with confidence and with the likelihood of a big stolen base week.