Stolen Base Potential

[DrWood]

IIRC Ned has always been more of the green light to try type person vs telling them when to run.

I thought stealing was always directed from the dugout, except for some elite basestealers (think ricky henderson) who always had the green light.

 

I'm not sure if you mean always as in Ned always directs it or it's almost always done from the dugout on most teams. I believe Ned hardly ever directs a player to steal a base in a particular ab unless it's necessary late in a game. I think he's more or less the type that allows a player to run. Whether he talks to a player after a game and tells him he should have tried to run more or less that game is a differant story.

I meant that for all teams, and for almost all players on those teams, they are directed when to steal (obviously with common sense added in--only if you can get a good lead, a good read on the pitcher, etc.). Some players may be given a green light under certain circumstances (no outs, no one else on, no score, early innings, etc.). Heck, if I'm Ricky Weeks and I have a green light, I'd have 45 SB last year.

I mean, I've never played pro ball, but I can't imagine it being as you describe.

If I'm wrong, there are a lot of gutless players and managers that don't want to manage the game.

 

[TooLiveBrew]

well, it was Corey Hart himself that described himself as being able to go (paraphrasing, sorry) 'pretty much whenever I want.' So my guess is, instead of being told when he can go, it's probably that guys like Rickie & Corey, etc. are told when the manager doesn't want them to run. I just can't see something referred to as 'green light' if a player wasn't actually given - at least - near-total independence.

[Thurston Fluff]

I think you're wrong about that DRWood. I know for sure Garner gave several of his players a green light to run when they felt they cold make it when he managed the Brewers and know for sure there are other managers who do that for their players who know how to steal. It sort of makes sense that the guy who is on the field who sees the pitcher and catcher the best and knows the type of lean/jump he has would be the one to chose when to go. Molitor once talked about how he would sometimes get to set up a stolen base by the way he approached being on base earlier in the game. Granted Molitor was one of the best base runners I've ever seen but those are the type of things that someone on the bench couldn't really take into account.

 

In any event I think danzig6767 made a good point about runners taking the extra base is probably as important as stealing is. I think it was Yost who mentioned he liked the fact that Cameron led the league going from first to third.

[Ennder]

They discuss this stuff before each series and have game plans etc just like in football. I'm sure sometimes Yost specifically puts out a do not steal sign but I doubt he calls every SB they attempt either.

[RobertR]

The Brewers are a lot faster than some people seem to think / MLB is a lot slower than some people seem to think. See http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggregate?sort=stolenBases&split=0&group=8&season=2007&seasonType=2&statType=batting&type=exp1

 

The Brewers ranked 9th in the NL last year with 96 SBs. The NL average was 98 and the MLB average was 97. They've added Cameron (replacing Jenkins/Mench), Kendall (replacing Estrada), a full year of Braun (who has 20 SB potential), and a full year of Weeks. They're potentially a top 5 NL team if they only add about 10 SBs to their total from last year.

 

Robert

[endaround]

I'm more excited about how well the majority of the team should be able to run from first to home on base hits than i am about stealing bases. For a team with so much power, we are athletic and have a good amount of overall team speed.

I'm excited to have a catcher that can be bunted over to 2B

 

[logan82]

Ennder wrote:

I think we see a SB from one of the pitchers this year too!

My money is on Gallardo. He is a 5 tool player.

[dadofandrew]

Most players have the freedom to run at any time, especially if you have any speed at all. Do people think Bill Schroeder stole bases in his career because he was ordered to from the dugout? Even Prince runs some. They run when they can, though there is a "red light", like when Prince is up.

[logan82]

dadofandrew wrote:

They run when they can, though there is a "red light", like when Prince is up.

Unless you are Koskie, then you steal on the first pitch when Fielder is up.