It’s moving time in MLB, where the teams who wanna contend giveaway their farm talent even if they aren’t going to make the playoffs. Looking at you Chicago Cubs.
It’s the time of year when you can tell your fan base we’ve given up, but please come spend money at the ballpark and check out this failure we’ve put on the field yet again. Looking at you Toronto Blue Jays.
It’s the time of year when playing time on some teams gets squeezed and good players find themselves on the bench every third or fourth day to accommodate everyone. Looking at you Jazz Chisholm playing third base potentially…at least until Stanton gets hurt again.
It’s the time of year where someone is going to get a shot in the majors and make a difference down the stretch. Maybe that person is the Pirates recently acquired Nick Yorke.
Yorke will head to AAA Indianapolis to start, but with Nick Gonzales out for weeks now it is certainly possible that he finds himself in the majors sooner rather than later as the Pirates look to find help across the diamond from Oneil Cruz. Yorke was the #6 prospect in Boston but was fading in favor due to their glut of middle infield prospects. He has been on fire as of late after his promotion to AAA with a .310 BA and a .408 OBP. He also has a little bit of pop with 10 Home Runs over 367 Plate Appearances.
For the purposes of our exercise, I think he has roughly 20 steal potential across a full season of baseball. So far he has stolen 14 out of 17 bases attempted in 2024 across AA and AAA. His solid plate presence and above average hit tool should allow him to get chances. His sprint speed and jump from the tapes I have watched look around MLB average so it will be the base skills that lead to stolen base attempts for him. I wouldn’t go out and tie up a roster spot just yet, but if he gets the call it might be worth a look.
The other guy it might be worth a look at to pick up for a few steals is Christopher Morel. Yes to this point he has only stolen seven bases this season and been caught 5 times. His sprint speed is MLB average at 27.3 Ft/sec.
However…he’s available in over 50% of leagues and to be honest might just need to hit the refresh button at the plate. His .199 BA is being dragged down by a .220 BABIP, and everything from his Hard Hit% and GB% are right in line with his career norms. His K and BB rates are actually career bests by quite a bit. If he can get on base a little more we know the Rays won’t be afraid to steal bases. Also on the plus side….Dude has hit 18 Home Runs already!!!
Morel should play almost every day. You telling me you couldn’t see .250/30/12/35/8 out of him the rest of the way? I can.
Here’s Our Stolen Base Leaderboard through Sunday July 28th
The Speed Dials:
1 for 4 on the Speed Dials last week. We also got you two Home Runs and a 5 for 5 game from Jake McCarthy. Not too shabby.
Overall, that puts us at 13 for 56 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.
Reds vs Cubs – Wednesday July 31st
Jake Fraley – The Reds are going to be very consistent with their lineup now that TJ Friedl is back and Rece Hinds returned to earth and AAA. With all the injuries their Top 8 will be the same every day and Will Benson and Stuart Fairchild will likely platoon. A few guys may get a Sunday off as happened this last weekend. So for my money, Fraley will hit 7th against Kyle Hendriks and the Cubs on Wednesday. Fraley is 34 of 44 on stolen bases last two seasons and has an above average sprint speed of 28.4 Ft/sec. Hendriks allows plenty of traffic and has .152 SB/IP with 86.8% success against. The catchers make a difference in this one with Miguel Amaya being 60th of 66 in qualified catchers and Christan Bethancourt checking in at #7.
Angels vs Rockies – Thursday August 1st
Zach Neto – How he is only owned in 12.5% of ESPN leagues I’ll never understand. Oh wait yes I do, 40% of fantasy players gave up in April. What I don’t get is how Nolan Schanuel and Anthony Rendon are leading off instead of him. Neto is hitting .256 on the season and is just off the 2024 SB Leaderboard at 19 SBs on the year. Sprint speed is solid at 28.2 Ft/Sec with a 76.7% SB Conversion rate. He’ll face Ryan Feltner of the Rockies with a .164 SB/IP and a 83.9% success rate against. Much harder to run on Elias Diaz than Jacob Stallings, but Feltner is so bad holding guys close it won’t matter if Neto gets to first with nobody in front of him.
Orioles vs Guardians – Friday August 2nd
Colton Cowser – Cowser led off for the O’s Saturday and Sunday and looks like they may go that route more and put Gunnar Henderson in a better position to drive in runs. Cowser is 8 for 10 on stolen bases in his career and has a sprint speed of 28.2 Ft/sec. He’ll face Carlos Carrasco who is middling at holding runners with a .97 SB/IP, but with a 85.7% conversion rate against. Austin Hedges and Bo Naylor both throw runners out at around a 20% clip, but Hedges has the better metrics if he is playing.
Cubs vs Cardinals – Saturday August 3rd
Pete Crow-Armstrong – He gets my favorite target in Andre Pallante and his .200 SB/IP and 86.2% conversion rate against. PCA is 21 for 23 in his career swiping bags and is in the lineup almost everyday at this point. Sprint speed is 30 Ft/Sec which is good for 6th in MLB. Willson Conteras is 11th on the SB catcher leaderboard, but even he can’t help with Pallante’s base runner problems. Pete will get on and steal a base against the worst pitcher at holding guys on in all of MLB.
