The bigger, the better?

Before the 2023 season, the MLB announced three rule changes. One key change is that the size of the bases gets bigger. The base-size change has several impacts on baseball. An important change might be that bigger bases could lead to more steals.

 

The rule change made the 2023 season interesting. There were 3 players who had at least 50 steals last year. In particular, 2 players had more than 60 steals. The 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. stole 73 bases and, in the AL, Esteury Ruiz had 67 stolen bases. Back in 2022, no players reached 50 swipes.

 

Well, it seems that the bigger bases lead to more steals. However, are there actually more stolen base attempts?

 

From 2000 to 2002, there were more than 4000 stolen base attempts each season. In particular, there were 4500+ attempts in 2001 and in that season, Ichiro led the majors with 56 steals.

Nonetheless, from 2003 to 2008, there had been fewer stolen base attempts. Over those 6 years, there were fewer than 4000 steal attempts each season. In particular, there were only 3634 attempts in 2005. But, 2 players each had at least 60 steals and Chone Figgins was the leader in steals. He had 62 stolen bases.

 

In 2009, it seems that more players were trying to steal bases. There were more than 4000 stolen base attempts. From 2009 to 2012, baseball fans saw more than 4000 attempts each season. In 2011, there were 4540 stolen base attempts and Michael Bourn led the majors with 61 steals.

 

Nevertheless, since 2013, stealing bases had become less common. From 2013 to 2022, stolen base attempts never reached 4000 times in a single season. Well, the 2020 season was a shortened one and let’s ignore that. And in 2021, stealing bases wasn’t normal and there were fewer than 3000 attempts. Starling Marte was the leader for stolen bases with 47 swipes.

 

Finally, in 2022, stolen base attempts were over 3000 times. Last season, there were 4369 stolen base attempts. The number of stolen base attempts dramatically increased more than 1000.

 

In 2023, we saw several players try to steal bases. After 10 seasons without seeing at least 4000 attempts in a single season, the number of stolen base attempts eventually went up. It seems that the rule change truly has been a key factor. Well, the number hasn’t reached 4500 as it was in 2011. Additionally, an interesting thing worth mentioning is that there were 0.72 steals per team game last season. 0.72 steals per team game are the highest in a single season this century. In the 2024 season, there are several things worth monitoring. Firstly, it will be worth watching if there will be more than 2 players to reach 60 stolen bases this year. Moreover, in 2024, will there be more than 4000 attempts? Furthermore, the Cincinnati Reds had 190 steals in 2023. In 2024, are there any teams to reach 200 swipes? It will certainly be worth watching which team will run a lot during the regular season.