Latest news with #stolenbases
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fantasy Baseball Steals Report: Shohei Ohtani not running much, Chandler Simpson solidifies spot
As stolen bases continue to rise league wide, I'm here every Wednesday to help you track important stolen base trends so you can find more speed for your fantasy teams. Stealing a base is as much about the opposing pitcher and catcher as it is the actual base runner themself. So, being able to spot which teams and pitchers specifically are being run on most frequently will help you to figure out who can swipe some bags over the next week. MLB Starting Pitcher News: Tyler Glasnow's sinker, Logan Gilbert's new arm slot Eric Samulski discusses four trending starting pitchers and how interested we should be for fantasy baseball. Eric Samulski , Before we get to this week's important trends, here is the stolen base leaderboard over the past seven days. Player SB CS Chandler Simpson 4 0 Luis Robert Jr. 3 0 Nico Hoerner 3 0 Gunnar Henderson 3 0 Ha-Seong Kim 3 0 Juan Soto 2 0 Oneil Cruz 2 0 Geraldo Perdomo 2 0 Julio Rodríguez 2 0 Colton Cowser 2 0 Matt Shaw 2 0 Three More Tied 2 0 Chandler Simpson is very back and it doesn't look like he's going back down any time soon. More on that below. Apart from the stolen bases, Luis Robert Jr. has finally turned it on at the plate. He's riding an eight-game hitting streak and has a 1.023 OPS since the beginning of July, just in time to be traded to a contender. Imagine telling someone in March that we'd be one week away from the trade deadline and Juan Soto would have the same amount of stolen bases as Corbin Carroll. Now, here is the overall stolen base leaderboard on the season. Player SB CS José Caballero 32 8 Oneil Cruz 31 4 José Ramírez 30 6 Chandler Simpson 30 6 Pete Crow-Armstrong 28 5 Bobby Witt Jr. 27 7 Elly De La Cruz 26 6 Trea Turner 25 6 Luis Robert Jr. 25 6 Victor Scott II 25 2 Brandon Lowe's second trip to the injured list this month opens the door a bit wider for José Caballero to play nearly every day. If he plays, he will be stealing bases. Next, here are some players that we'd hoped would be more aggressive or efficient on the base paths. Player SB CS Jonathan India 0 4 Jordan Westburg 1 3 Agustín Ramírez 1 2 Jackson Merrill 1 2 Luis Rengifo 2 6 Seiya Suzuki 3 2 Tommy Edman 3 1 Bryan Reynolds 3 2 Ernie Clement 3 3 Willy Adames 4 2 Bo Bichette 4 3 Lars Nootbaar 4 4 Masyn Winn 6 5 Jose Altuve 6 6 Adam Frazier 7 5 Jackson Holliday 9 8 Anthony Volpe 10 7 Jacob Young 10 9 Jordan Beck 11 6 Shohei Ohtani 12 4 Jonathan India and Luis Rengifo are vying for the least efficient base stealing season we've seen in a long time. The wear and tear added on by pitching has seemingly stopped Shohei Ohtani from stealing bases. He's swiped just two since the start of June and it feels safe to say the 59 from last year will prove to be a drastic outlier in his career. Now, let's go over the most important stolen base trends over the past week. Fantasy Baseball Stolen Base Targets The duo of Yainer Diaz and Victor Caratini have allowed 14 stolen bases over the Astros' last nine games, most in the league. They didn't come in bunches either, just a few bags from their opponents every night. Of all catchers, Diaz has given up the most stolen bases this season with 67. He's also outside of the top-10 with 67 starts behind the plate and caught a very low 13.4% of runners. To compound the issue, Caratini has the lowest caught stealing rate of any catcher that's started at least 30 games at 11.9%. They are an excellent team to target when seeking stolen bases. Also, the White Sox have been frequently run on of late too with 12 stolen bases allowed over their last nine games. Most of which came against the Guardians in their series just before the break where Cleveland swiped seven bases in four games. Yet, all seven came in just two of those games, both of which with rookie Kyle Teel catching. He's graded out around league-average in terms of his pop time and caught stealing over expected, but has only thrown out 17.6% of runners and the aggression with which players are using against him is telling. The Guardians stole three against him in one game. All three came with a different pitcher on the mount. Then, José Ramírez took three himself in the next game off two different pitchers. Ironically, the Rays had the opposite approach against the White Sox. They've just played two games against one another so far and only attempted one stolen base against Teel. On the other hand, Chandler Simpson swiped three himself in the next game with Edgar Quero behind the plate. Teel is widely regarded as a better defender than Quero, with neither being considered stalwarts. Overall, this is another great team to target for stolen bases. Chandler Simpson Check-In It's nearly been a month since the Rays recalled Simpson from the minor leagues and he's been blazing hot since then with hits in 20 of the 23 games he's started. Overall, he has a .325 batting average and .360 on-base percentage to solidify himself as a starter. As he's gotten on base so much, of course he's been running wild too. His 11 stolen bases since June 24th – the date of his first game back – are most in the league and Tampa Bay recently moved him up to the top spot in their order. Also, they're clearly more comfortable with him defensively this time around. He's made all 23 of his starts in center field as they try to shoehorn him into that spot. Trust in a premium position and taking the reins as their lead-off hitter makes it very, very unlikely the Rays take him off the roster again. So, we can find comfort in what's confidently the best base stealer in the league going forward.
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Reds prospect Kyle Henley displays Atlanta speed as one of baseball's fastest players
DAYTONA BEACH — Growing up, Kyle Henley knew he was fast. But 'fast' came with a caveat. 'I'm from Alpharetta, Georgia,' Henley said. 'It's a little bit north of Atlanta. But my dad would always tell me I'm not Atlanta fast. I'm not like inner-city fast with those guys.' Advertisement Then, they found out he was. When Henley was 15, he attended a Perfect Game showcase and ran the quickest 60-yard dash in the nation for his age group at 6.47 seconds. A year later, he dropped it to 6.27. 'That was an eye-opener,' he said. 'That's when my career, it was like, 'OK, let's take this seriously.'' Now 20 and in his first full season with the Daytona Tortugas, Henley leads the Florida State League in stolen bases. The center fielder racked up 31 steals through his first 57 games. No other FSL prospect registered more than 26. 'I genuinely believe I'm one of the fastest players in all of baseball,' Henley said. Daytona Tortugas outfielder Kyle Henley (6) and teammates take the field against the St. Lucie Mets, Friday, June 13, 2025 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Chase Burns: Reds to call up top prospect to debut Tuesday vs. New York Yankees Advertisement That's not hyperbole or false confidence. Using Catapult tracking data, Henley would boast the best feet-per-second mark in the major leagues this season. His 31.6 would place him above speedsters like Bobby Witt Jr. (30.4), Byron Buxton (30.2) and Trea Turner (29.9). Henley also points out his top speed of 22.6 miles per hour would've led the NFL in 2024. 'But those boys got pads on,' he said. Cincinnati Reds drafted Kyle Henley out of high school in 2023 Daytona Tortugas outfielder Kyle Henley (6) heads for first against the St. Lucie Mets, Friday, June 13, 2025 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Also a football and basketball player as a kid, Henley committed to the Georgia Tech baseball program while at Denmark High School but skipped college altogether when the Cincinnati Reds selected him in the 14th round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Advertisement He started swiping bags immediately. After a four-game baptism in the Arizona Complex League in late 2023, he returned to that level to kick off 2024. In 53 games, he snatched 35 bases with a .280 batting average. He was caught only three times. Henley ended the campaign with a four-game stint with the Tortugas. In their regular-season finale, he drew a walk-off walk. To begin 2025, Henley came back to Daytona Beach and has hit .237 with 17 RBIs. He wants to improve his on-base percentage (.286) and cut down on his strikeouts. He's fanned 95 times, which also leads the league. But he's refined his stolen-base approach with the help of Tortugas manager Willie Harris. Advertisement 'I remember in spring training every day, let's say I'm in the dugout and there's a runner on second,' Henley said. '(Harris) would look at me and say, 'What's this pitcher doing? Is he one-look, two-look?' Every time, I would sit there and be blank because I wasn't paying attention. 'Now, it's ingrained in my head — what's he doing? Now, I'm ultra focused if I'm in the dugout, on the field, even just watching. I have to make sure I'm on top of that because that's the key of trying to be the best baserunner I can be.' Kyle Henley's process for stealing bases Daytona Tortugas outfielder Kyle Henley (6) grabs the ball after a short hop against the St. Lucie Mets, Friday, June 13, 2025 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Henley possesses a constant green light. Advertisement Daytona doesn't need to give him the steal sign. If he wants to go, he can. If he notices something he can exploit, he should. He strives for the same leadoff every time he gets on base. The Reds measured their ideal distances during spring training. If the pitcher tries a pickoff move and it's a close play, Henley may shorten his leadoff by a step. If he retreats back to the bag easily, he extends it an extra step. He looks for tendencies to perfect his timing. How fast is this pitcher's windup? Does he always take a deep breath right before lifting his leg? Does he glance down or twitch his hands a certain way? Those are Henley's indicators, telling him when to run. Advertisement Henley studies those details on film before games. If he hasn't seen a pitcher on video, he'll try to collect those mental notes from the dugout. 'I try to be smart about it because I have really good hitters behind me,' he said. 'So if I'm on and I have an advantage and I see something, I'm always going to try to take it.' When he knows he's stealing, he said the game slows down. Everything gets quiet. 'Then, it's like boom!' Henley said. 'It's a really cool feeling. I just take off.' While sprinting to second or third base, he looks in to see what's happening with the pitch — if it's in the dirt, if the catcher corrals it cleanly, if the hitter swings. Advertisement He slides feet-first at his coaches' request. They want him to stay away from the injury risk of a headfirst slide if possible. Henley's been thrown out only twice this year. And, well, he doesn't count one. 'The other time was a bad call,' he said with a smile, 'but stuff like that happens.' 80 stolen bases feels attainable for Kyle Henley in 2025 After games, Henley will occasionally pick up his phone and see a text from a family member or friend. Maybe it's, 'Hey, you're in the lead.' Or maybe it's, 'This person is catching up.' That keeps him aware of the league's stolen base standings. He tries not to seek out that info, though he'd be lying if he said he didn't keep track of his stats and set specific goals. This season, he aims to steal 70-75 bases. Advertisement Eighty or more feels attainable. 'At the end of the day, if I do what I'm supposed to do, the numbers will be there at the end of the season,' Henley said. 'I'm just going out there and playing my game, which is stealing bags.' This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Cincinnati Reds prospect Kyle Henley may be baseball's fastest player
Associated Press
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Portland Sea Dogs steal 11 bases in 6-1 win over Somerset
SOMERSET, N.J. (AP) — The Portland Sea Dogs stole a whopping 11 bases in a 6-1 win over the Somerset Patriots on Thursday night. The 11 steals was a franchise record for the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, surpassing the nine stolen bases the team had against the Patriots on May 13, 2023. Current major leaguer Ceddanne Rafaela had a franchise-high of six in that game. Seven different players had at least one stolen base on Thursday night. Zach Ehrhard, Karson Simas, Caden Rose and Allan Castro had two each while Ronald Rosario, Tyler Miller and Marvin Alcantara had one apiece. Hayden Mullins (1-1) tossed five shutout innings for his first Double-A win.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Twins Rookie Ties Improbable MLB Record Spanning Back to 1901
Recent Minnesota Twins call-up Luke Keaschall has accomplished a rare MLB feat that no player has achieved in over a century. A former second-round selection of the Twins in 2023, the 22-year-old Keaschall was promoted to the majors for his first professional outing on April 18. Advertisement The part-time second baseman and designated hitter prospect kicked things off on the right foot that night, going 2-for-4 with a single and a double, as well as an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. Fast forward five days to April 23, and Keaschall has managed to stay hot with at least one hit in each of his first five MLB appearances. But even more impressive is the improbable record he just tied. Minnesota Twins rookie Luke Keaschall singles against the Chicago White Sox at Target Johnson-Imagn Images For the second straight game on April 23, Keaschall stole two bases against the Chicago White Sox. That gives the rookie five steals in five appearances. And according to the MLB's X account, Keaschall's five stolen bases through his first five professional games is "tied for the most stolen bases since at least 1901." That's exactly 124 years, and by the sound of the MLB's post, there's no guarantee this record was even achieved in 1901. Advertisement So, why has this unique "steals" feat been so difficult to accomplish? For starters, MLB rookies typically have a tough time getting on base when they're first called up, let alone successfully stealing five bases. Keaschall is currently batting .353 with an on-base percentage of .500 following his most recent performance. That's half the battle right there. Obviously, the other half is having the confidence, speed and technique to pull off five stolen bases in such a short span of time. What an electric start to Keaschall's big league career. Related: Twins Could Part Ways With $37M All-Star at Trade Deadline
