Atlanta Braves: extra running might be in store, but should that happen?
Fast Forward to 2020
There is at least one team that wants to run more this season: the Seattle Mariners. They’ve got some burners, for sure including old friend Mallex Smith. In case you didn’t notice, he led the majors in steals last season with 46.
Shannon Drayer noticed this preference back in February:
"Something to keep an eye on this spring is what the team does on the bases. A younger, more athletic team should be able to get more in terms of extra or stolen bases. In addition to veterans Dee Gordon and Mallex Smith, [Manager Scott] Servais pointed to [Evan] White, [Kyle] Lewis and [Jake] Fraley as guys that can run. He would also like to see more out of [J.P.] Crawford."
But would this work for the Atlanta Braves?
We know about Ronald Acuna Jr.: he led the National League in 2019 steals with 37 and has a boldly stated goal of going for 50 as part of a ’50/50′ season in 2020.
Let’s compare, though: 37 steals were clearly good, but Acuna was caught 9 times… with hitters like Albies, Freeman, and Donaldson behind him as part of an order that was the NL’s 2nd best run-scoring club.
That was an 80% success rate, but was likely close to the break-even point… unless somebody can quantify ‘pitcher distraction’ as a definable and meaningful stat.
Seattle has a different story: they were lagging offensively last year… back at 10th in the AL and close to 200 runs behind the Yankees and Twins. That might even be worse this season between some offensive losses, youngsters coming up, and a missing Mitch Haniger. Hence, we get it: they need to get running.
Who are we talking about?
Atlanta has 4 players with consistent base-stealing skills among the regulars in the lineup:
- Acuna (80% in 2019)
- Ozzie Albies (79%, 15 steals)
- Dansby Swanson (67%, 10 steals)
- Ender Inciarte (88%, 7 steals in limited playing time due to injury)
I left out Billy Hamilton from this list since he’s no longer with us, of course, but for the record, he was 4 for 5 as a Brave in 2019.
That said, Hamilton was most definitely a distraction on the basepaths… any time he was on base it was like the entire infield visibly ‘tensed up’. If there’s anyone in the game today who’s an exception to the adages and norms about base-running… it is Hamilton.