Time is running out in MLB, where contending teams have to trade their farm talent or fail to make the playoffs. I’m looking at you Chicago Cubs.
It’s the time of year when you can tell your fans we’ve given up hope, but please come spend some money on football and check out this failure we’ve put on the pitch again. I’m looking at you Toronto Blue Jays.
It’s the time of year when playing time for other teams is tight and good players find themselves on the bench every third or fourth day to accommodate everyone. I’m looking at Jazz Chisholm playing third base potentially…at least until Stanton gets hurt again.
It’s the time of year when someone is going to take a shot at the majors and make a difference on the floor. Maybe that person is Pirates newly acquired Nick Yorke.
Yorke will head to AAA Indianapolis for the start, but with Nick Gonzales out for weeks now he could definitely find himself in the bullpen soon as the Pirates look to get help from Oneil Cruz. Yorke was the #6 prospect in Boston but has been falling out of favor due to their glut of middle-of-the-road prospects. He was on fire after his promotion to AAA with a .310 BA and .408 OBP. He also has a little pop with 10 Home Runs over 367 Plate Appearances.
For the purposes of our exercise, I’m assuming he has about 20 steals in a full baseball season. So far he has stolen 14 of 17 bases attempted in 2024 at AA and AAA. His solid plate presence and above-average hit tool should allow him to get opportunities. His running speed and jumper on the tapes I’ve watched of him around MLB are average so they will be basic skills that lead to stolen base attempts from him. I wouldn’t go out of my way to tie up a roster spot just yet, but if he gets the call he might be worth a look.
Another guy you can look to for a few steals is Christopher Morel. Yes so far this season he has only stolen seven bases and been caught 5 times. His fastball is the MLB average at 27.3 Ft/sec.
However…he is available in over 50% of leagues and to be honest he may just need to hit the refresh button on the board. His .199 BA is dragged down by a .220 BABIP, and everything from his Hard Hit% and GB% are in line with his career trends. His K and BB rates are actually a bit career-best. If he can get on the bases a little we know the Rays won’t be afraid to steal bases. Also on the bright side….Dude has hit 18 Home Runs!!!
Morel should play almost every day. You’re telling me you don’t see .250/30/12/35/8 coming out of him all the way? I can.
Here is our Stolen Base Leaderboard for Sunday July 28th
Speed Dials:
1 of 4 Speed Dials last week. We also got two Home Runs and a 5 for 5 game from Jake McCarthy. Not too shabby.
Overall, that puts us at 13 out of 56 on the season.
Keep in mind that these are the exact dates you can pick up and spread guys in daily leagues. A reminder of these statistics and analysis includes data for 2023 and 2024.
Reds vs Cubs – Wednesday July 31st
Jake Fraley – Rece will be a big fit in their lineup now that TJ Friedl is back and Rece Hinds is back in the world with AAA. With all the injuries their Top 8 will be the same every day and Will Benson and Stuart Fairchild will probably play. A few guys might get a break on Sunday like they did this past weekend. So for my money, Fraley will hit 7th against Kyle Hendriks and the Cubs on Wednesday. Fraley has 34 of 44 stolen bases over the past two seasons and has an above-average 28.4 Ft/sec. Hendriks allows a lot of traffic and has a .152 SB/IP with an 86.8% strikeout rate. Anglers make up the difference this time around with Miguel Amaya at 60th out of 66 professional anglers and Christan Bethancourt coming in at #7.
Angels vs Rockies – Thursday August 1st
Zach Neto – How he is only managed in 12.5% of ESPN leagues I will never understand. Oh wait yes I do, 40% of fantasy players quit in April. What I don’t get is how Nolan Schanuel and Anthony Rendon are better than him. Neto is hitting .256 on the season and is just off the 2024 SB Leaderboard with 19 SBs on the year. Sprint speed is solid at 28.2 Ft/Sec with a 76.7% SB Conversion rate. He will face Ryan Feltner of the Rockies who has a .164 SB/IP and an 83.9% success rate. Elias Diaz is much harder to run against than Jacob Stallings, but Feltner is so bad at holding guys down it won’t matter if Neto gets to first with no one in front of him.
Orioles vs Guardian – Friday August 2nd
Colton Cowser – Cowser led the way for the O’s on Saturday and Sunday and it looks like they may go that route and put Gunnar Henderson in a better position to drive in runs. Cowser is 8 for 10 in stolen bases in his career and has a fastball of 28.2 Ft/sec. He will face Carlos Carrasco who averages and catches runners with a .97 SB/IP, but has an 85.7% conversion rate. Austin Hedges and Bo Naylor both throw out runners at about a 20% clip, but Hedges has better metrics when he plays.
Cubs vs Cardinals – Saturday August 3rd
Pete Crow-Armstrong – You get my favorite target in Andre Pallante and his .200 SB/IP and 86.2% conversion rate. PCA is 21-of-23 in his career hitting streaks and is on the list almost every day at this point. Sprint speed is 30 Ft/Sec which is good for 6th in MLB. Willson Conteras is 11th on the SB catching leaderboard, but he also can’t help Pallante’s base runner woes. Pete will go up and steal a base against the worst catcher pitcher in all of MLB.
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