Stolen bases are one of those things - like the hit-and-run or the sacrifice bunt - that we associate with the National League style of play. They've taken a beating, too, from many serious and many more amateur sabermetricians as old-fashioned and more exciting than genuinely useful.
Look at the MLB standings for steals, however, and you see that the five teams with fewer than 30 steals are all members of the National League. The Rockies, the Cubs, the Astros, the Gents, and the D'Backs trail the big leagues in steals. How can so many NL teams abandon the steal?
The Pirates have 39 steals - the same number as Texas. Going into last night, they were tied with Boston at 38.
Mac and DL often talk about finding better players. It's no secret that they hope to make better players. One area that needs work is the steal. The Pirates have only converted sixty percent of their chances this year. They have to do better than that. The Mets, Philadelphia, Seattle, Anaheim, and Cincinnati are all converting 75% or better.
Who needs to get better? Jason Kendall (8-for-15, 53%) and Bobby Hill (0-for-3, 0%) are the only players with three or more attempts and a lousy success rate. Rob Mackowiak is 10-for-13. Redman hasn't had as many attempts as we expected from him going into the season, but his success rate isn't so bad that a good steal or two won't make it look a lot better.
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