Howdy y’all! Welcome back to our mostly weekly stolen base check-in over here at Razzball. I’m back from a couple work trips and have a few more coming up in August, so I’ll be sporadic as I usually am later in the season. Hope everyone who hasn’t moved on to fantasy football is still looking to pick up some points and cash some fantasy baseball leagues as we turn the calendar to August later this week.
Personally, I’m having an OK year. Best big contest showing is in the Razzslam where I am in 20th overall, but need to get up into 18th to make the final cut. I am leading one RCL and 5th and 9th in the others, and the rest of NFBC can kiss my ass. Injuries, and closer problems have gotten me from the start.
So what do we talk about at this time of year? Usually, I find some guys in the minors with stolen base pedigree who may be getting called up. I am struggling however, to find suitable steals leaders looking up at potential roster spots, either for contenders or teams that may have some openings on the big league roster after offloading some talent. I had to dig deep, but I have zeroed in on a few guys on the same team I think could find a way up and stumble into some playing time the last two months of the season.
The Pirates should be off-loading Tommy Pham, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and possibly Ke’Bryan Hayes out of their lineup in the next few days. That will leave a roster hole, and the Pirates lack top tier talent in the minors when it comes to hitters. One, if not both of these guys, should come up, depending on how many players get moved. I am talking about Ronny Simon and Nick Yorke. The Yorkie is certainly the better overall talent, but Ronny Simon is the one I want for fantasy stolen bases.
Yorke could get you a few steals here and there, but his K-rate is much higher, and the OBP this season has plummeted down to .339 in AAA. Some of his shine has lost its luster.
Ronny was released earlier this season after a short stint with the Marlins. He had some defensive issues, and the fish realized they had plenty of young talent to grab ABs, but in Pittsburgh, he could play an interesting role. He is hitting .298 on the season in the minors with a 12.5% BB-rate, which gives him a .399 OBP. That equals plenty of chances to run. He has stolen 23 bases and only been caught five times in his 240 MiLB plate appearances. His limited sprint speed times with the Marlins checked in at 28.6 FT/sec so he is above average in that department as well.
No guarantee Ronny Simon comes up, but if he does get the call, it might be worth it to nab him for some steals down the stretch
Here’s the current Stolen Base Leader Board through Sunday, July 27th
The Speed Dials
We went 2 for 4 last week, now 9 for 38 on the season.
Remember, these are specific stolen base streaming targets for specific days where the player is owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues. All stats represent both the 2024 and 2025 seasons combined.
Cardinals vs Marlins – Tuesday July 29th and Wednesday July 30th
Victor Scott II – I don’t understand how he is rostered in so few places. I guess it might be the .314 OBP, but he’s the fourth fastest player in baseball and is 26 for 28 on stolen base attempts. He’ll face one of our favorite targets in the Marlins. Tuesday it’ll be with Sandy Alcantara on the bump. He’s allowed 24 for 24 on attempts and .231 SB/IP. Wednesday we’re going after Cal Quantrill and his .133 SB/IP. Nick Fortes has been slowly climbling up the catcher leaderboard, but Liam Hicks and Agustin Ramirez are both at the bottom of the list.
Rays vs Yankees – Thursday July 31st
Jake Mangum – The PI is on the move, hopefully against Marcus Stroman on Thursday. The 29.0 Ft/sec outfielder is one of many Rays stealing bases these days. Mangum is 14 for 17 on the bases. Stroman is allowing .138 SB/IP and a 83.9% success rate against. Austin Wells and J.C. Escarra are both in the bottom third of catchers at cutting down runners.
Angels vs White Sox – Friday August 1st
Zach Neto – Neto has connected in back to back Speed Dials for us and now has 19 stolen bases on the year. His sprint speed is slightly above average at 28.1 Ft/Sec. He faces the White Sox and Sean Burke who allows 84.2% of runners to succeed and has a .128 SB/IP. Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero are the best set of catchers on the list this week, but they are both still in the bottom half on the throwing board.
That’s all, folks. Any other questions, hit me up here or on Twitter @TheGreatKnoche
