Esteury Ruiz, Oakland A’s
I’ll make this last mention quick, which is fitting for the player. Oakland’s center fielder Esteury Ruiz is leading the league in stolen bases with 17, two ahead of Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña, Jr. In just his third season in the league, Ruiz has already become somewhat of a journeyman with Oakland being his third team in as many years.
Batting a respectable .275 on the season, Ruiz has six stolen bases in May already. Up until late April, Ruiz only had a handful of stolen bases. However, in Anaheim against the Angels, Ruiz stole four bases in one game and, since then, he’s been given the green light any time he’s been on base it seems.
Ruiz has only been caught stealing twice this season and has shown improvement at the plate as his batting average has jumped 20 points this month. Ruiz doesn’t walk much, just four times so far this season in 147 at-bats. If he can improve his plate discipline, his stolen bases numbers could get Rickey Henderson-esque, which would be a huge feat in Oakland and also distract fans from the team’s league-worst record.
If your league rewards stolen bases, then Ruiz is someone to go grab as a nice plug-in player when a star has a night off.
OK, that’s it. Good luck out there!