Unfavorable Matchups, American League
Dioner Navarro, Tampa Bay (23 for 63 .365 CS%): 3 against Boston (Jacoby Ellsbury, Coco Crisp, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay), 3 against Minnesota (Carlos Gomez, Denard Span, Delmon Young, Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla)
Joe Mauer, Minnesota (27 for 74, .365 CS%): 3 against Cleveland (Grady Sizemore, Jamey Carroll, Franklin Gutierrez), 4 against Tampa Bay (BJ Upton, Jason Bartlett, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria)
Kurt Suzuki, Oakland (29 for 81, .358 CS%): 3 against LAA (Chone Figgins, Torii Hunter, Garret Anderson, Gary Matthews), 3 against Seattle (Ichiro Suzuki, Adrian Beltre, Jose Lopez)
Favorable Matchups, American League
Kelly Shoppach, Cleveland (7 for 40, .175 CS%) 3 against Minnesota (Carlos Gomez, Denard Span, Delmon Young, Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla), 3 against Detroit (Carlos Guillen, Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Gary Sheffield)
AJ Pierzynski, CHW (19 for 105, .181 CS%): 4 against NYY (Johnny Damon, Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu, Derek Jeter, Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner), 3 against Kansas City (Joey Gathright, Alex Gordon, Esteban German)
Ramon Hernandez, Baltimore (24 for 114, .211 CS%): 3 against Toronto (Alex Rios, Marco Scuturo, Joe Inglett), 3 against NYY (Johnny Damon, Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu, Derek Jeter, Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner)
Unfavorable Matchups, National League
Jason Kendall, Milwaukee (38 for 89, .427 CS%): 3 against CHC (Ryan Theriot, Kosuke Fukudome, Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Mark DeRosa), 3 against Cincinnati (Jerry Hairston, Corey Patterson, Chris Dickerson)
Yadier Molina, STL (18 for 52, .346 CS%) 3 against Cincinnati (Jerry Hairston, Corey Patterson, Chris Dickerson), 3 against CHC (Ryan Theriot, Kosuke Fukudome, Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Mark DeRosa)
Bengie Molina, SF (31 for 91, .341 CS%): 4 against Arizona (Chris Young, Mark Reynolds, Conor Jackson), 3 against LAD (Juan Pierre, Matt Kemp, Russell Martin)
Favorable Matchups, National League
Russell Martin, LAD (17 for 79, .215 CS%) 4 against Pittsburgh (Nate McLouth), 3 against San Francisco (Randy Winn, Fred Lewis, Eugenio Velez, Dave Roberts)
Brian McCann, Atlanta (26 for 111, .234 CS%): 3 against Philadelphia (Jimmy Rollings, Shane Victorino, Eric Bruntlett, Jayson Werth, Chase Utley), 3 against NYM (Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Endy Chavez, Luis Castillo)
Geovany Soto, CHC (24 for 89, .270 CS%): 3 against Milwaukee (Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks, Mike Cameron, Ryan Braun), 3 against St. Louis (Cesar Izturis, Skip Schumaker, Adam Kennedy)
Pickup Recommendations:
Coco Crisp: Crisp is still available in many formats and plays fairly regularly. He has picked up 2 stolen bases in his last 3 games.
Jerry Hairston: He is healthy again and can steal bases. Keep on eye on how much playing time he is receiving, as the Reds may want to go with youngsters the rest of the way.
Gregor Blanco: If you are absolutely desperate for steals in NL-only leagues and cannot move much either way in any other category, then you can try Blanco. He could be good for a handful of steals the rest of the way, 12 on the year, but he won’t contribute in any other category, 1/35/.252 in 412 AB.
Nick Punto: If you are absolutely desperate for steals in AL-only leagues and cannot move much either way in any other category, then you can try Punto. He could be good for a handful of steals the rest of the way, 11 on the year, but he won’t contribute in any other category, 2/25/.285 in 281 AB.
Willie Harris: Harris is under owned in fantasy leagues despite showing nice power/speed numbers, 13 HR/10 steals in 331 AB. Just be prepared for some batting average downside, .248 on the year.
Rajai Davis: Davis is actually seeing playing time; he has started 5 of the last 6 games for the A’s. As long as he plays, he will get some steals, 3 steals during that same time period.
Nelson Cruz: Who knew Cruz was such a power/speed threat? Since being called up, he has 3 home runs and 3 steals in 49 AB. He is just continuing what he did in the minors this year, 37/99/.342 with 24 steals.
