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<\/a><\/p>\n2025 Colorado Rockies Sprint Speed Baseball Savant<\/p>\n
So, if they\u2019re fast, what makes them so bad at stealing bases?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a ton of factors that contribute to something as messy as this, but let\u2019s take a look at one that\u2019s surprisingly simple.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s Tyler Freeman attempting to run on Merrill Kelly:<\/p>\n
Now compare that with Francisco Lindor against Quinn Priester:<\/p>\n
Before the pitch, Lindor is already in motion, but Freeman remains static. By the time of the pitcher\u2019s first move, Freeman only has a 10.7-foot lead while Lindor has already achieved a 15.5-foot one. That\u2019s not even getting into how Lindor\u2019s momentum lends itself to an easier time committing to the sprint.<\/p>\n
Granted, Lindor is pretty fast (only 1.1 ft\/sec slower than Freeman), so he\u2019s perhaps an imperfect example, but you know who isn\u2019t? Juan Soto.<\/p>\n
After joining Lindor\u2019s Mets, Soto started practicing an approximation of his patented home plate<\/a> shuffle at first base<\/a>. He proceeded to steal 38 bases in only 42 attempts despite sporting only the 549th sprint speed in the majors. The Mets as a whole had an average lead of 13.1 feet on stolen base attempts, which was comfortably the highest in the league, to go along with being last in sprint speed. That combination of furthest lead but slowest speed led to, as mentioned above, the best stolen base success rate in the game.<\/p>\n The Rockies average lead of 10.6 feet, on the other hand, was down at 24th \u2014 only 0.2 feet further than the league-worst Chicago White Sox.<\/p>\n Baseball Savant\u2019s clip archive is full of stolen base attempts similar to the Freeman example above. Sometimes the pure speed of someone like Doyle<\/a> allowed them to get away with it. Far too often, though, nearly everyone on the team from Ezequiel Tovar<\/a>, to Jordan Beck<\/a>, to even Zac Veen<\/a> just ran themselves into an out using this technique.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, that lack of aggression does not actually appear to have saved the Rockies from being picked off. In \u201825, the New York Yankees (who Soto does not appear to have shuffled for at first base for in \u201824) were the only team to suffer more pickoffs than the Rockies while having a longer average lead on stolen base attempts. This is, perhaps, indicative of the runners having enough information on the pitcher to know when it\u2019s safe to commit but the main point is that the formula isn\u2019t as simple as: more lead distance equals more pickoffs.<\/p>\n What does this mean for this year\u2019s Rockies?<\/p>\n Simply that their base stealing problems are solvable with the current roster. The foot speed is in place. With a few tweaks to their plan of attack and, dare I say, a little bit more confidence, they have the ability to turn at least this one weakness into a possible strength.<\/p>\n Come Opening Day, I know I\u2019ll be watching first for any hints of Soto-esque shuffling.<\/p>\n Colorado Rockies 2026 top 20 prospects: Ethan Holliday, Charlie Condon lead the way | The Athletic ($)<\/a><\/p>\n Keith Law\u2019s take on the current state of the Rockies farm system is tepid but optimistic about the combination of raw talent and a new front office. In terms of individual players, he is high on both Roldy Brito (3rd) and Jackson Cox (4th). On the flipside, Law throws some cold water on the idea of Roc Riggio as more than \u201can emergency call-up\u201d long term and appears to be lower than the consensus on Cole Carrigg (17th) because he \u201chasn\u2019t really made any adjustments since the Rockies took him in the second round in 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n Top Five Black Players in Spokane Indians History | MiLB.com<\/a><\/p>\n Part of a series MiLB is running in celebration of Black History Month that looks back at standout Black baseball players for minor league clubs. This is a fascinating group of names that places former RoY\/Cy Young\/MVP Don Newcombe alongside Curtis \u201cBig Rig\u201d Terry, who only had thirteen games in the majors but absolutely raked for Spokane in 2018 en route to Northwest League MVP. Most notably for this crowd, Jay Gainer, whose only big league time came as a member of the Rockies in their inaugural season, makes the honorable mentions.<\/p>\n