MLB Standings by steals: Braves unwillingness to run is embarrassing

BySteven Teal|
Texas Rangers v Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers v Atlanta Braves | Adam Hagy/GettyImages

There hasn't been a lot to be excited about this season with the Atlanta Braves. Blips of optimism have appeared randomly, but overall, this has been a challenging year for the Braves. The offensive explosion fans witnessed in 2023 feels like it was a decade ago. Atlanta hasn't capitalized with runners in scoring position, and three-quarters of the lineup are having awful plate appearances.

However, another thing that has changed is the team's aggressiveness on the base paths. Part of that stems from Ronald Acuña Jr. missing most of the 2024 season and the first two months of 2025. Atlanta stole 132 bases in 2023, and 73 of those belonged to Acuña.

He also had 16 steals before injuring his knee in 2024, and the team had a total of 69 stolen bases. They dropped from the 10th most stolen bases to the worst very quickly.

MLB Standings: Braves have one of the worst stolen base rates in baseball

Right now, the Braves are tied with the Angels for the second fewest steals this season at 44. This is just barely higher than the Tigers, who have the fewest stolen bases in baseball at 40. Only 10 Braves players have stolen bases this season, and two of them are no longer on the roster.

Here is a list of the players on the team with steals and how many they've taken thus far:

Player

Steals

Michael Harris II

12

Ozzie Albies

7

Nick Allen

6

Eli White

6

Ronald Acuña Jr

4

Luke Williams

3

Stuart Fairchild

2

Austin Riley

2

Bryan De La Cruz

1

Alex Verdugo

1

A lot of this originates from the fact that Atlanta isn't getting on base enough to be impactful on the bases. The Braves have the 18th lowest on-base percentage at .315 which is not ideal. Being able to cause havoc on the basevpaths can be a really useful tool to manufacture runs, but does require actual baserunners to work. This is something that needs to improve in the second half.

NL East Standings: Compared to their division rivals the Braves stolen base total is absolutely embarrassing

Atlanta's NL East foes are fairing much better stealing bases and the Braves find themselves last in the division. Here's how the division breaks down in stolen bases:

Team

Steals

Phillies

84

Nationals

81

Mets

74

Marlins

74

Braves

44

The fact that the next closest team in the division has 30 more steals than the Braves is shocking. Last season, it was a bit understandable that the team didn't have as many steals with Acuna being injured.

However, the roster does feature a bit more speed this year with Harris, Albies, White, Fairchild, Allen, and Williams. Acuna won't be stealing as much for obvious reasons, but there's no reason the team shouldn't be more active on the bases.

With Atlanta's offensive struggles, why not make a change and put pressure on pitchers? It couldn't hurt to try something new since the status quo hasn't worked. Not only that, but the Braves have also been in a lot of one-run games this year.

Atlanta is 13-24 in one-run games with 138 runs scored this season. That is an absolutely horrific record. Getting some movement on the bases could help them avoid as many of these outcomes.

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