Runnin' Ron = Runnin' Less?

[homer]

Steal attempts for the Brewers per game pre all star break = .847 (78 attempts, 92 games)

Steal attempts for the Brewers per game post all star break = .391 (9 attempts, 23 games)

 

Does anyone think this is a conscious effort or due more to injuries to Weeks and Braun?

[Dragonbait]

To me, its the injuries to Weeks, Braun, and Gomez.. (esp Gomez)

 

Just not as much speed without those guys.

[GoudaBrew]

Probably injuries. Carlos Gomez also got hurt the week following the AS break. GoGo, Braun and Weeks lead the team in attempts. I would have thought Nyjer Morgan would have more than 6 SBs through 261 PAs though. Might have something to do with him hitting 2nd and not being the most efficient base stealer throughout his career.

[thablingster]

I will third the injuries. No Braun, Weeks, and Gomez leaves you with Hart and Morgan as SB threats. Not as daunting.

 

The Brewers have still been very aggressive on the bases in regards to first-to-third, second-to-home, contact play, etc., so RR's still running. He's just not stealing with guys who have no business stealing, or having someone hit-and-run Mark Kotsay to 2B anymore, thankfully.

[Baldkin]

I would have thought Nyjer Morgan would have more than 6 SBs through 261 PAs though. Might have something to do with him hitting 2nd and not being the most efficient base stealer throughout his career.

Has a lot more to do with him hitting in front of Braun and Prince than anything else (at least, I hope....)

[Ennder]

Probably both. He realized somewhat that guys like McGehee aren't viable for aggressive base running but we also had some good base runners hurt.

[brettac1]

I'm glad he hasn't been running with Morgan. Just because a guy is fast doesn't mean he can steal bases.

[JohnBriggs12]

More hits mean less need to manufacture runs. But they are hit and running a lot. The dropoff can be traced to Gomez being out and Braun nursing his calf.

[dadofandrew]

90% of it was fluff anyway. As pointed out, Gomez/Braun/Weeks have missed time/returned unable to run 100%. Lucroy, McGehee, and Fielder are not going to run, or take the extra base.

 

Much of the pretend angst over outs on the bases is just not understanding math...with two outs, you should get runners thrown out at home, as long as they have a 30-35% chance of scoring. That leads to some easy outs if the defense makes the play/decent throws. HOU losing a meaningless runner to end the game is bothersome. Most outs on the bases are not.

[rluzinski]

Much of the pretend angst over outs on the bases is just not understanding math...with two outs, you should get runners thrown out at home, as long as they have a 30-35% chance of scoring.

 

I agree, that is not a huge issue, although I question if some of these runners even have a 30% chance of scoring after they are out by 20 feet. There have been a number of outs at home with less than 2 outs, however, as well as a number of outs at 3rd. Also not a big fan of the 3-1 hit and runs, either. No idea what that all adds up to. BP has the Brewers middle-of-the-pack for base running:

 

http://www.baseballprospe...ble/index.php?cid=975444

[homer]

Much of the pretend angst over outs on the bases is just not understanding math...with two outs, you should get runners thrown out at home, as long as they have a 30-35% chance of scoring. That leads to some easy outs if the defense makes the play/decent throws. HOU losing a meaningless runner to end the game is bothersome. Most outs on the bases are not.

If it was just when there were two outs I'd have no problem. It's attempting steals of third with Braun at bat and attempting double steals with one of the slowest players in the league at third base. And it's a whole lot of other "small ball" type plays that don't fit this thread.

[RightFieldCoder]

I see a reason why Morgan's SB% is down from previous years. He was always on horrible teams. He probably felt that the best (only) way for him to score was to steal his way there. Now that he's hitting in front of Braun and Prince, he doesn't need to force the SB.