Fantasy Baseball Steals Report: Pick up Esteury Ruiz, Blue Jays can’t stop run game

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.

Last week, I highlighted Lawrence Butler and Brenton Doyle as two options available on most waiver wires that could help out with steals. Each of them stole two bases last week without being caught!

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

Add Esteury Ruiz right now if you need stolen bases. I can’t stress this enough.

He’s on this leaderboard with only 157 plate appearances and is likely a starting player moving forward after Kyle Stowers’ recent injury. He could swing the stolen base category in your league on his own moving forward.

Last Seven Days Stolen Base Leaders

Bryson Stott has quietly had a great season. Apart from a career-best .760 OPS, he’s stolen 23 bases without being caught and is just a few days away from picking up third base eligibility.

Injury chaos with the Athletics have allowed Lawrence Butler to reclaim an everyday role. He’s started 13 consecutive games entering play on Wednesday and nearly half of those have come against left-handed pitchers. He’s a strong power-speed threat moving forward.

Stolen Base Disappointments

Ronald Acuña Jr. was aggressive early on, but has not attempted a stolen base since coming off the injured list for a second time a shade over two weeks ago. It feels like the litany of lower body injuries have cost him some of his burst, so don’t anticipate many more steals in 2026.

Sam Antonacci’s bat has gone cold and he’s begun to lose playing time. Don’t be afraid to drop him in 12-team leagues.

Fantasy Baseball Stolen Base Targets

The Blue Jays have stormed back ahead of the Reds in the battle for most stolen bases allowed as a team.

Over the last week, Toronto let up 12 steals on 14 attempts. Most of their games came against the Cubs, Phillies, and Red Sox, who are each top-10 in stolen bases as teams since the All-Star break. Still, this has been a persistent problem for the Blue Jays all year and they’ve been featured in this column a handful of times.

Mostly, Alejandro Kirk and his deficiencies with throwing runners out.

Being a fantastic framer and receiver anchors his overall defensive value, but Kirk’s 17% caught stealing rate is a good bit below league average and worse than his own 20% mark last season. His pop time is slow and he grades out negatively in Baseball Savant’s caught stealing above average metric too.

At the same time, this problem can’t be traced back to him alone. He splits time at catcher with Brandon Valenzuela, who’s elite in both of those metrics and is only barely throwing runners out at a league average clip.

Rather, Blue Jays pitchers have been awful on the whole at holding runners on. They are by far the worst staff by Net Bases Prevented and not many individual pitchers are absolved.

Target base stealers against the Blue Jays for the rest of the season. They will be running against this team. For the next week, they’re facing the Yankees and Rays so look to Spencer Jones, Cedric Mullins, and Johnny DeLuca for cheap speed.

Also, don’t forget about the Reds. They play the Marlins and Cardinals over the next week, so make Esteury Ruiz a priority if you’re seeking stolen bases as well as Heriberto Hernández, Masyn Winn, and José Fermín if you’re desperate.