As stolen bases continue to rise league wide, I will be here every Wednesday to help you track important stolen base trends so you can find more speed for your fantasy teams.
Stealing a base is as much about the opposing pitcher and catcher as it is the actual base runner themself. So, being able to spot which teams and pitchers specifically are being run on most frequently will help you to figure out who can swipe some bags over the next week.
Last week, I highlighted the Marlins and Astros as easy teams to run on and once again, they were easy teams to stream stolen bases against.
Before we get to this week’s important trends, here is the stolen base leaderboard over the past seven days.
Juan Soto’s inclusion on this list is both funny and ironic. He’s always managed to steal a handful of bases each season, but has four in his last six games. And when he steals them, he’s often taking off on a running start before the pitcher even comes home.
Juan Soto walks into second base with the steal #RivalryWeekend pic.twitter.com/3N5m8BxoT4
— MLB (@MLB) May 16, 2025
Otherwise, Chase Meidroth stealing more bases like this could really boost his fantasy value. He’s been hot at the plate and is the White Sox everyday lead-off hitter. A high on-base percentage, multi-positional eligibility, and threat for 20 steals could make him borderline viable in certain 10-team leagues.
Now, here is the overall stolen base leaderboard on the season.
Back from missing a few games with a back strain, Oneil Cruz has regained his place atop this list.
Kyle Tucker is continuing a longstanding tradition of players being more aggressive on the bases in a contract year and is on pace to beat his career-high 30 stolen bases that he set in 2023.
Next, here are some players that we’d hoped would be more aggressive or efficient on the base paths.
While Masyn Winn and Jackson Holliday have taken strides at the plate, they cannot get caught twice as often as they’re successful on the basepaths. If that continues, they’ll both lose their green light to run. In fact, they may have already.
Maikel Garcia being caught seven times already is unacceptable, especially for a Royals team that’s a bit offensively challenged. He needs to clean that up.
Now, let’s go over the most important stolen base trends over the past week.
Fantasy Baseball Stolen Base Targets
The Marlins remain the best team to target when searching for stolen bases, and by a wide margin. They’ve allowed 19 more stolen bases than the Astros, the next-closest team, and have deservedly become a mainstay in this column.
Sandy Alcantara is the primary culprit. He’s allowed 18 stolen bases this season – at least three more than any other pitcher – and no would-be base stealers have been caught while he’s been on the mound. The Rays were a perfect 4-for-4 in his most start and it doesn’t seem like this trend will change any time soon.
Nick Fortes was behind the plate for Alcantara in that game and has only caught two of 26 (8%) base stealers. The Marlins’ other options at catcher – Liam Hicks and Agustín Ramírez – while a tremendous offensive duo, have caught three of 28 (11%) and one of 20 (5%) base stealers, respectively.
This is by far the best team to try and stream stolen bases against. Next week, they’re heading on a west coast trip to take on the Padres and Giants. Keep an eye on players from those teams to steal extra bases.
Rays Running Wild
The Rays just stole 16 bases over the last week as a team! That’s more than two per game and they were only caught once. Ironically, they were caught in their first stolen base attempt over the last week, when Chandler Simpson was thrown out last Wednesday by Alejandro Kirk.
After that, they went ballistic. First, swiping two against Kirk and Kevin Gausman, who isn’t great in the run game.
Then, they had the privilege of playing the Marlins, who I’ve already discussed at length. The Rays stole seven bases in three games against their Floridian counterparts and still somehow managed to lose the series. And their only win came against Alcantara. It’s truly a bizarro world we’re living in.
They closed this torrid seven-day stretch with six steals in two games against the Astros. Interestingly, all six came with relief pitchers on the mound. Bryan Abreu, Josh Hader, and Steven Okert were the culprits with Victor Caratini behind the plate for each.
The Rays’ offense is stagnant, so they could look to keep running after being a perfect 16 for their last 16. Yet, it seems like this barrage was more about facing the two easiest teams to run on in the whole league.
Perfect Week for Cubs
Similarly to the Rays, the Cubs just went a perfect 11-for-11 stealing bases over the past seven days. Also similarly to the Rays, they enjoyed a series against the Marlins.
Yet, they only stole two bases against Miami because they wound up losing two close games, where base runners were hard to come by, and blew them out of the water in the third.
Instead, they ran wild on their cross-town rival White Sox. Six of the 11 bases the Cubs stole last week came in one game against the White Sox. Dansby Swanson and Kyle Tucker swiped two each while Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner also joined in on the fun.
Rookie catcher Edgar Quero was behind the plate for all six of those steals with Sean Burke and Mike Vasil on the mound. The White Sox haven’t been nearly as bad as teams like the Marlins, Astros, or Athletics this season at preventing stolen bases, but maybe other teams will see the tape of this series and become more aggressive.
As for the Cubs, they’ve joined the Rays and Brewers as the only teams to have stolen at least 60 bases so far this season and will likely keep running given their young, athletic squad and overall efficiency.
