The Stolen Base has become chic this year. Jacoby Ellsbury kicked things off by stealing home. Dexter Fowler swiped five bags in one game. Carl Crawford raised the bar with six of his own, tying the modern day record. Just because you’ve slipped behind in that category doesn’t mean you can’t catch up. Here are some reasonably available SB threats.
Michael Bourn, Houston Astros – Bourn continues to contribute with his average and stolen bases. Last week he was 7 for 21 (.333) with 4 SBs. He also picked up 4 Runs and 2 RBI. On the season he’s hitting .299 with 8 SBs and 14 Runs. He’s picking up ownership as he was owned in 8.6% ESPN and 21% Yahoo leagues last week compared to 11.9% ESPN, 33% Yahoo, and 32% CBS Sportsline.
César Izturis, Baltimore Orioles – Izturis picked up a couple SBs last week. He didn’t do much else though going 4 for 15 (.267) with one Run and no RBI. On the year he’s hitting .241 with 5 SBs, 7 Runs, and 9 RBI. Not a lot of value here, which explains his 3% Yahoo, 1.6% ESPN, and 8% CBS Sportsline ownership.
Ben Francisco, Cleveland Indians – Ben picked up a couple of SBs last week as well, but may get cut out of some ABs as the Indians see what Matt LaPorta can do. He was 5 for 15 (.333) with 3 Runs, a HR, and 3 RBI. On the year he’s hitting .236 with 3 SBs, 14 Runs, 2 HRs, and 7 RBI. He’s also not a very attractive option. He’s owned in 3% of Yahoo, 1.2% of ESPN, and 11% of CBS Sportsline leagues.
Kazuo Matsui, Houston Astros – Kazuo swiped two bags while picking up his average. He went 7 for 22 (.318) with 3 Runs and 3 RBI. On the year he’s hitting .266 with 4 SBs, 8 Runs, 1 HR, and 11 RBI. He is useful for AL-only or deep leagues. He’s owned in 27% of Yahoo, 15.9% of ESPN, and 8% of CBS Sportsline leagues.
Ryan Spilbroughs, Colorado Rockies – Ryan picked up another couple SBs this week proving last week wasn’t a fluke. He went 5 for 20 (.250) with 3 Runs, 2 HRs, and 4 RBI. On the year he’s hitting .292 with 4 SBs, 15 Runs, 3 HRs, and 14 RBI. He’s worth picking up, and is owned in 41% of Yahoo, 18.3% of ESPN, and 54% of CBS Sportsline leagues.
Willie Bloomquist, Kansas City Royals – Willie had a strong week stealing two while hitting .471 (8 for 17) with 7 Runs, 1 HR, and 2 RBI. On the year he’s hitting .372 with 3 SBs, 10 Runs, 1 HR, and 5 RBI. There’s a logjam in OF for the Royals with Bloomquist, Coco Crisp, Jose Guillen, and David DeJesus. He probably won’t see enough steady ABs to justify picking up. He’s owned in 5% of ESPN, 0.6% of ESPN, and 2% of CBS Sportsline leagues.
