When Major League Baseball changed its rules last season there was a huge spike in stolen<\/p>\n\n\n\n
bases. With larger base sizes and new limits when it came to pickoff moves saw a 40%<\/p>\n\n\n\n
increase in stolen bases from 2022, the biggest jump year-to-year in the modern baseball era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2022, baseball saw 2,487 stolen bases, and a year later, 3,503. And there were more than<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1,000 attempts in 2023, compared to the previous season, with a success rate of over 80%,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
another record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top Stealers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves (+175)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems Ronald Acuna Jr. is favored to win almost all individual awards this season but this one<\/p>\n\n\n\n may be his shortest odds. He had an exceptional stealing season recording 73 in 2023, the<\/p>\n\n\n\n most in the majors and the second time he\u2019s led the National League after swiping 37 in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019s battled injuries in the past but played 159 games last season. If he stays healthy there\u2019s<\/p>\n\n\n\n no doubt he\u2019ll be looking to repeat as the \u201cThief of Major League Baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Esteury Ruiz, Oakland Athletics (+275)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Esteury Ruiz was the only thing that went well for the Athletics last season as the rookie \u2018stole\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n the show, well, more like bases, racking up 67 in 132 games. In fact, Ruiz was on pace for 83<\/p>\n\n\n\n before an injury in early July. He swiped 15 bases in the final 25 games but couldn\u2019t catch<\/p>\n\n\n\n Acuna for the league lead. Considering he was just 6 steals behind Acuna with almost 150<\/p>\n\n\n\n fewer at-bats makes him a real contender if he stays healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds +850<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Elly De La Cruz was another rookie trying to make his mark as a thief. In his first season in the<\/p>\n\n\n\n bigs De La Cruz has 35 stolen bases in 43 attempts in just 98 games. MLB measured his sprint<\/p>\n\n\n\n speed at 30.5 feet per second, fastest in the league. If Cruz can make some adjustments, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n increase his batting statistics, he could make a serious run at leading the league in his first full<\/p>\n\n\n\n season as a pro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Longshot Thief<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs (+4000)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n First hear me out before you poo-poo on this one. In the first 3 seasons in the majors, where he<\/p>\n\n\n\n played less than 50 games annually, Hoerner had a career best 5 stolen bases. Two years ago,<\/p>\n\n\n\n he swiped 20 bags. But last season, he more than doubled that output posting a career-best 43<\/p>\n\n\n\n stolen bases, most from a Cubs player since 2006. He may not be the fastest but has great<\/p>\n\n\n\n instincts for finding the right time to make a dash. At +4000, why the heck not!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Major League Baseball changed its rules last season there was a huge spike in stolen bases. With larger base…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":24769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[149],"class_list":["post-24768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-mlb"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t