SF Giants will finish near the bottom in key category yet again

The SF Giants entered Friday with 66 stolen bases on the year. They almost certainly will finish the year with the second-fewest stolen bases in baseball, continuing a trend that has spanned multiple seasons.

SF Giants will finish near the bottom in key category yet again

Only the Detroit Tigers (59 stolen bases) have fewer steals than the Giants this season. Unless they suddenly become aggressive base stealers, they will not surpass the Giants with less than 10 days to go in the season.

Willy Adames swiped his 11th base of the year on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He moved ahead of Jung Hoo Lee (10 steals) for the team lead in that category. Not surprisingly, Lee and Adames are the only Giants players with double-digit steals.

As of Friday morning, there were 96 players in baseball with more steals than Adames.

The Giants got off to a good start this year. They swiped 21 bases in 28 opportunities in the first month of the year. The well quickly ran dry after that. In July, they only attempted four stolen bases. Oddly enough, they were successful with each attempt.

As a whole, the Giants were successful in 75 percent of stolen base attempts this year. That is not unusually inefficient. The league rate is 77.8 percent, so they were slightly below that mark. It is just not being prioritized by the coaching staff.

Since 2023, Stolen bases have increased rapidly. Increasing the size of the base, limiting the number of disengagements, and the pitch clock have all played a factor in this. This applies to just about every team in baseball, but the Giants.

During that time, they have recorded 191 steals. That is last in baseball by a comfortable margin. And, it has not been a particularly fast roster, either. The Giants are 24th in baseball in sprint speed (27.1 feet per second).

Speed is one factor in stealing bases. The other is the ability to read the pitchers. That can be coached up. Speed helps, but it is not everything in stealing bases. For example, Josh Naylor is among the slowest runners in baseball, but he has 27 steals in 29 opportunities this year.

For the past several years, the Giants have expressed their desire to add more speed and athleticism to the team, but to no avail. The results speak for themselves.

Plus, it is not just the stolen bases. It is below-average foot speed on the bases that makes going from first base to third base on a hit to the gap so difficult. Or, scoring from second base on a ball to the outfield. They simply do not have the speed to accomplish that.

Scoring runs in baseball is hard. This is especially true at Oracle Park, where the ball does not carry. The Giants are not doing themselves any favors by continuing to put together a roster that does not do enough on the bases.

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