It’s time for post All-Star Break SAGNOF Razzjiblets. I hope you are ready for a fun and exciting stretch run in fantasy baseball and that your teams are all doing better than mine are. I missed the cutline in Razzslam thanks to an awful week 16 performance. In RCLs my best position is 10th. Other home leagues are also not fairing so well. Oh well, as they say sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug. Drafts just didn’t shake out well.
Alas we can still win some category points thanks to stolen bases. Time to look at another guy to potentially stash in your leagues and see if you can’t find a guy to pluck an extra 15-20 steals in the second half.
Today we look at recently recalled Blue Jays OF Steward Berroa. The Blue Jays should be firmly in the sellers column now 9 games under .500. I can see them moving Kevin Kiermaier and Justin Turner for sure before the deadline.
That would open up some ABs for Berroa. Here’s a guy with a little pop and a lotta speed. He has 239 Plate appearances in AAA this season and has homered 8 times to go with 30 stolen bases in 38 attempts. He has respectable walk and strikeout rates at 12.1% and 23.8% respectively. Berroa was hitting .296 in AAA, albeit with an unsustainable .373 BABIP. He is also a switch hitter which would allow him to play most days and stay out of a platoon.
I think the Blue Jays will want to get a longer look at him at the major league level this season to determine if he would be a viable piece in their lineup in 2025. If it shakes out that way he could easily steal 10-15 bases the last two months of the year. If you have a roster spot just hanging out there and are in need of some stolen bases grab the Steward of Berroa.
Here’s Our Stolen Base Leaderboard through Sunday July 21st
The Speed Dials:
0 for 4 on the Speed Dials going into the All-Star break.
Overall, that puts us at 12 for 52 on the season.
Remember these are exact dates to pick up and stream steals guys in daily leagues. Reminder these stats and analysis includes 2023 and 2024 data.
Mariners vs Angels – Wednesday July 24th
Dylan Moore – His playing time has slowed down as has his sprint speed which is just slightly above league average at 27.9 Ft/sec. He is still taking advantage whenever he gets on base going 17 of 19 on the basepaths. He will face Roansy Contreras and the Angels Wednesday. Roansy allows 94.7% of runners to succeed and posts a mammoth .165 SB/IP ratio. Logan O’Hoppe is 61st of 66 catchers on the throwing leaderboard, and Matt Thais is below average as well if Logan gets the day off.
Rays vs Blue Jays – Thursday July 25th
Josh Lowe – Still under 50% ownership Lowe is running at a perfect clip of 8 for 8 on the basepaths. Sprint speed checks in at 28.2 Ft/Sec. He’ll face Chris Bassitt who doesn’t have a high SB/IP ratio at .064 and he holds runners well having only 64.5% of base runners move successfully. I still think Lowe has a good chance if he gets on as Danny Jansen is struggling to cut down runners at only 12%. If Alejandro Kirk is behind the plate I like this a little less.
Mariners vs White Sox – Friday July 26th
Victor Robles – Going back to Seattle who is stealing bases wherever they can as they look to generate offense for the worst ball contact team in MLB. Robles has been playing almost everyday, is getting on base at .392 and is 11 for 12 on the bases this season. Sprint speed has dropped to 28.0 Ft/sec. He’ll face my new favorite target Drew Thorpe on the mound who has allowed all seven baserunners to succeed so far and has a .181 SB/IP ratio. Korey Lee is Top 20 in MLB in catcher throwing so that should help him a bit, but I like Robles if he gets on base.
Diamondbacks vs Pirates
Jake McCarthy – Alex Thomas continues to get more playing time than McCarthy, but I am not really sure why. Guess maybe it’s the defense, but looking at those stats on Fangraphs they seem similar. The catch he made in Chicago Sunday seems to quell that thought as well. McCarthy has a much better K/BB ratio and OBP than Thomas. Torey needs his brain checked. Anyhoo…. McCarthy is 23rd in MLB sprint speed at 29.3 Ft/Sec. He is 13 for 15 on the bases. He’ll face Mitch Keller of the Pirates who can’t hold runners on when he doesn’t limit traffic. 96.4% success rate against him and .088 SB/IP. Joey Bart is middle of the pack, Yasmani Grandal is second worst in all MLB on the catcher throwing leaderboards.
As always, if you’re looking for anything further out for next week where we don’t have exact pitching match-ups hit me up here or on Twitter @TheGreatKnoche
