The Mets aren’t the quickest crew in baseball. Wait, let’s be extra particular. With a mean dash velocity of 26.9 toes per second, the Mets are the second-slowest crew in baseball. When their baserunning makes the information, it’s hardly ever for a very good cause. Possibly they’re costing themselves hits and additional bases by failing to hustle out of the field, or perhaps they’re operating the bases within the flawed path altogether. Both method, you may be forgiven for pondering that baserunning is costing the Mets runs after seeing one thing like this:
In actual fact, the Mets have been the Tenth-best baserunning crew in baseball in line with our baserunning metrics, seventh greatest in line with Statcast, and eleventh greatest in line with Baseball Prospectus. What makes this distinction much more enjoyable is that along with being gradual, they haven’t been superb at taking the additional base both. BP ranks them fifteenth on that entrance, whereas Statcast has all of them the best way down at twenty sixth. They go for the additional base as typically as you anticipate them to, however they succeed at a below-average price. For all of the sabermetric angst about how being a invaluable baserunner is greater than merely piling up stolen bases, the Mets are, the truth is, accruing all their baserunning worth by stealing bases. However they’re nonetheless not stealing all that many bases.
The Mets’ 72 stolen base makes an attempt are tied for the seventeenth most in baseball, and their 62 steals put them in a three-way tie for eleventh. I’m positive you see the place I’m going right here. All this worth is coming from effectivity; the Mets are changing 86.1% of their stolen base makes an attempt — the very best price in baseball this season, and the eighth highest ever recorded. That’s proper: The second-slowest crew within the league is operating the eighth-highest stole base price of all time.
Greatest Stolen Base Success Charges Ever
| Season | Staff | SB | CS | SB% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Athletics | 26 | 3 | 89.7 |
| 2023 | Mets | 118 | 15 | 88.7 |
| 2007 | Phillies | 138 | 19 | 87.9 |
| 2013 | Pink Sox | 123 | 19 | 86.6 |
| 2021 | Guardians | 109 | 17 | 86.5 |
| 2023 | Diamondbacks | 166 | 26 | 86.5 |
| 2019 | Diamondbacks | 88 | 14 | 86.3 |
| 2025 | Mets | 62 | 10 | 86.1 |
| 2025 | Cubs | 96 | 16 | 85.7 |
| 2024 | Dodgers | 136 | 23 | 85.5 |
I don’t imply to be too dramatic right here. I do know the Mets are on an all-time top-10 record, however that’s to be anticipated. The league not too long ago launched guidelines that made basestealing a lot simpler. They’re just one spot above the Cubs, who’ve been far more prolific on the bases, and totally half the groups within the high 10 are from the previous three seasons. Nonetheless, I need to notice a pair issues about this record. The Cubs are the sixth-fastest crew in baseball this yr. Pete Crow-Armstrong, a top-15 participant by way of common dash velocity, has stolen greater than 1 / 4 of their bases. It’s not surprising that they’re up there. Additional, the Mets seem on this record twice. In 2023, they had been protected 88.7% of the time, the second-highest mark ever. The 2024 Mets rank twenty seventh. Over the previous three seasons, the Mets lead baseball with an 85.9% success price, 2.5 factors above the Phillies in second place. There actually is one thing happening in Queens, and clearly, it’s not notably depending on velocity.
Simply to make sure about that final half, I ran some numbers. Like all groups, the Mets have their sooner baserunners doing extra stealing than their slower baserunners. I thought-about the likelihood that they’re simply solely letting their sooner gamers attempt to steal, however that’s not it. Should you prorate crew velocity by the stolen base makes an attempt of every participant, their dash velocity strikes as much as 27.7 toes per second, which strikes them from twenty ninth all the best way as much as twenty fifth. The Mets are simply nice at stealing bases.
I’d actually like to imagine all of that is associated to the crew’s baserunning mantra, “Let’s Boogie,” coined by first base coach and run sport coordinator Antoan Richardson. The Mets have been singing his praises over the previous two seasons, however that isn’t notably shocking. Mild teaching hagiography is a staple of spring coaching protection. Nonetheless, on this case, I’m at the very least barely inclined to imagine the hype. “He’s probably the greatest I’ve ever been round,” mentioned Juan Soto in April. “He’s actually good at that – checking on pitchers, what they do and the way we will bounce at it, once we will be extra relaxed. I’ve trusted him twice and received it twice. So I really feel like he is aware of what he’s speaking about.” Soto is on tempo for a career-high of 18 steals regardless of being the third-slowest outfielder in baseball (minimal 10 aggressive runs).
It’s not simply that Soto has elevated his stolen base complete so dramatically. It’s what I noticed after I watched all of his steals this season. I like to recommend you retain the sound on, however even in the event you don’t, it is extremely straightforward to see what’s taking place right here.
The widespread thread is Soto received monumental jumps. The catcher didn’t hassle to throw the ball in half of those clips. The one time it appeared like there would possibly truly be a play was when he ran on the Blue Jays battery of Yariel Rodríguez and Alejandro Kirk. Rodríguez grades out as above common at controlling the operating sport, and Kirk is among the greatest catchers within the sport at that individual talent. Soto is gradual sufficient that he wanted each little bit of his huge bounce. There’s no universe during which he runs right here except he’s sure he has one thing on Rodríguez.
The identical factor goes for Francisco Lindor, who’s at present on tempo for 26 steals though his dash velocity ranks barely under the league common for the primary time in his profession.
Similar to Soto, Lindor is getting monumental jumps. He has the pitcher’s timing down chilly. Typically he takes off earlier than the published even cuts to the pitcher! The Mets are stealing bases in all the best spots, and you’ll see it within the numbers. Baseball Savant retains detailed measurements of each main and secondary leads, and more often than not, the Mets are among the many most conservative groups in baseball. At simply 11.2 toes, their main leads rank twenty eighth. Their secondary leads rank seventeenth, however whenever you mix them with the extraordinarily brief main leads, by the point the pitcher has launched the ball, they’ve traveled a mean of 14.8 toes, the fourth-lowest mark within the sport. However these are simply the general numbers.
Issues are fully completely different when the Mets are stealing. They’re very practically essentially the most brazen crew within the league. Each their main and secondary leads rank second in baseball. They find yourself 25.9 toes off the bag by the point the pitcher releases the ball, trailing the first-place Padres by just below two inches. No crew has a much bigger hole between their common lead and their we’re-about-to-steal lead than the Mets. In actual fact, the distinction is 11.1 inches, and no crew is inside even a foot of that mark.
As a result of the Mets aren’t getting picked off or caught stealing, we will see they’re making nice selections about when to steal. And since they’re getting huger leads and even huger jumps, we will see they’re terribly assured in these selections. To be clear, not each participant on the crew is getting monster jumps. Luisangel Acuña has elite velocity, and he’s relied on it to go 11-for-12 in stolen base makes an attempt even with out monumental jumps. Nonetheless, the Mets actually do appear to know when to go, and that comes right down to teaching and preparation. Earlier than you boogie, you’ve received to check.