Baseball Prospectus: Teams Are Stealing Fewer Bases Than They Once Did

Baseball Prospectus analyst Kevin Goldstein spoke to NESN about the value of stolen bases and why what was once a big part of baseball has become marginalized.

“You need to steal bases somewhere between a two-thirds and three-fourths success rate just to break even,” Goldstein noted.

Compared to the 1970s and 1980s, stolen base numbers have dropped, which also impacts the need for a good defensive catcher. Now, the importance of a catcher’s arm “is so much less than what it once was,” Goldstein said.

That’s not to say that stolen bases can’t be and aren’t valuable. One just has to know how to use it as a weapon correctly.

Click on the video for more.