Don’t look now, but it looks like Major League Baseball has perfected the magnetic flux capacitor, has the DeLorean, and is back in the 1980s when stolen bases were all the rage.
Last week, Reds shortstop Elie Delacruz stole 30 bases in just 44 games, joining a great club that includes great players like Rickey Henderson, Tim Raines and Vince Coleman.
If you took the seemingly bold step of nominating him; Second round of your fantasy baseball draft this yearI’m overjoyed.
If not, you may need help finding stolen bases on the waiver wire.
Extrapolate the current stolen base total of 979 heading into Friday’s game and you’ll see how important this category is for fantasy.
Dela Cruz is a beast, and we’ve seen many other stars become beasts, from Bobby Witt Jr. to Shohei Ohtani.
But getting any of them in a trade will probably cost more than you want to pay.
But over the past week, we’ve seen a number of active base stealers willing to help your cause.
Few fantasy managers would be enamored with a roster player from the Nationals, but the Nationals have been one of the top teams in stolen bases all year.
In fact, they have the second-highest stolen base attempts in the majors and have one of the highest success rates.
If Jacob Young is available in any way, lock him up immediately.
But if not, take a look at returning outfielder Lane Thomas and third baseman Trey Lipscomb.
There are 21 stolen bases between the two, with Lipscomb having four in the past six games before Friday. If the Nationals continue their run, these two should be on the roster, along with infielder Luis Garcia Jr.
The Rockies may rank in the bottom five in stolen bases, but it’s hard to ignore outfielder Brenton Doyle’s recent surge. He stole four bases in six games.
Doyle has a batting average of .281 and an OBP of .337 despite a strikeout rate of nearly 28 percent.
With eight stolen bases on the year, he will likely get the green light every time he gets on base.
People also keep adding and subtracting Rays second baseman Jose Caballero.
The Rays are a top-five team in stolen bases, and Caballero continues to run.
His strikeouts are a mess and his batting average is a bit dismal, but if he can live with that, his 17 stolen bases could be a shot.
Back in the ’80s, fantasy baseball strategists focused on stealing bases, and drafting players like Henderson and Raines consistently came out on top.
Dela Cruz’s managers are doing that now and need to focus their attention.
Increase your steals as much as possible and don’t stop until your team reaches the top of the category standings.
Please say thank you in October.
Howard Bender is responsible for the following content. fantasyalarm.com.follow him About X @rotobuzzguy Catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” weekdays from 6-8pm on the SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Channel. Visit FantasyAlarm.com Stay tuned for all your fantasy baseball news and advice
