Fantasy Baseball Steals Report: Endy Rodríguez runs into relevance, Tyler Stephenson stumbles

Welcome to the steals report! I will be here every Wednesday to go over 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.

Before we get to this week’s important trends, here is the stolen base leaderboard on the season so far.

Full Season Stolen Base Leaders

Esteury Ruiz will not stop running. The Marlins outfielder plays just a few days a week, but has attempted 30 stolen bases despite. That’s come while he’s taken only 149 plate appearances so far this season. Still, as a part-time player only look to him if you’re either desperate for steals or in a deep enough league where this skill set is valuable.

Last Seven Days Stolen Base Leaders

José Caballero has officially lost his starting spot with the Yankees after George Lombard Jr. was promoted to be their shortstop. Lombard could provide some sneaky speed though with 14 stolen bases across 78 games split between Double and Triple-A.

Endy Rodríguez needs to be on more people’s radars as a catcher with a sturdy offensive profile who’s starting against all right-handed pitchers and can provide legitimate speed.

Stolen Base Disappointments

Zach Neto hasn’t successfully stolen two bases consecutively in just under two months. Luckily, the Angels will still let him run despite his woeful inefficiency.

Henry Bolte has been disappointing overall, especially as a base stealer where we hoped his tremendous speed could give him a more reasonable floor as a rookie.

Fantasy Baseball Stolen Base Targets

The Reds have been jostling at the top of the stolen bases allowed leaderboard all season long and reclaimed the top spot over the last as opponents swiped 10 against them.

For them, the stolen bases they’ve allowed are much more about the catcher than pitcher.

Tyler Stephenson had nine of the 10 happen on his watch across just five starts. On the flip side, no starting pitcher was on the mound for more than two.

While he’s had another solid season offensively, Stephenson has struggled mightily behind the plate. Never particularly strong back there, his caught stealing rate has fallen to 17%, which is second-lowest among all catchers who have started at least 50 games.

In fact, his shoddy defense could be the reason he stayed put in Cincinnati past Monday’s trade deadline.

A free agent at the end of the season, it made perfect sense for the Reds to ship him out with numerous contenders looking for both help at catcher and reliable right-handed hitters. It felt so obvious that Stephenson gave a heartfelt goodbye to the crowd at Great American Ballpark last weekend.

He’s still here though, and his lack of reliability defensively could have pushed teams away from paying the price the Reds seemed to demand for him.

They’re facing the Athletics, Nationals, and White Sox over the next week. So, keep an eye on Henry Bolte, Lawrence Butler, Brenton Doyle, Sam Antonacci, Jacob Young, and stolen base king Nasim Nuñez if you’re seeking cheap speed.

A Fishy Return

After trading Liam Hicks at the deadline, the Marlins have turned back to the defensively challenged Agustín Ramírez to presumably split reps with standout rookie Joe Mack. Not to be dramatic, but this may be the largest defensive chasm between two catchers on a single roster.

Mack has shored up the catcher spot in a big way for the Marlins with 11 home runs and a .740 OPS across 68 games to go along with lights out defense. Stolen base attempts against them have been down significantly since he was called up.

That could change soon though with Ramírez back.

He was a mainstay on this column last season because base runners were both incredibly aggressive and successful as base stealers when he played. He’s not a particularly good receiver either, and let a wild pitch past him in the lone inning he caught on Tuesday night that gave the Braves an important insurance run. They loaded the bases rather quickly that inning too, so there was no obvious chance to swipe a bag on Ramírez.

The Marlins are likely going to give him a few innings here and there, as they did on Tuesday, to try and give him a chance to show anything defensively. During the one or so game a week that he’s announced as a starter, run to your waiver wire and pick up any players with even moderate speed in the lineup against him.

If he gets a shot to DH, his bat and speed could prove valuable in two-catcher formats. He still has not played a position other than catcher in the Marlins’ organization though, so he could struggle to crack the starting lineup regularly.