Wakefield's knuckler wiggles and dives, and creates opportunities for base thieves.

In this week’s edition of Burning up the Bases, we turn to the pitchers who have given up the most stolen bases thus far in the season. Ultimately, this is the list of pitchers against whom you definitely want to start your stolen base leaders, or anyone who you think can steal a base, for that matter. There are two main factors at play here, the speed of the pitchers’ delivery and the accuracy and arm strength of the catcher.

With all that considered, I give you the easiest pitchers to steal a base from…

Tim Wakefield, BOS ~ There is no doubt about two things when it comes to this knuckleballer. One, he will be able to pitch well into his mid-forties and still be a fairly effective 3, 4, or 5 pitcher. Two, you are more than likely to record a stolen base if your team is facing him. Giving up the highest amount of stolen bases (21), Wakefield and his slow delivery gives your speedsters the best opportunity to rack up stolen bases and boosts your chances of increasing your weekly (5 X 5) and overall (Rotisserie) points. If there is any good news for Wake, it is that runners only have a 75% success rate, stealing 21 bases in 29 attempts.

Gavin Floyd, CWS ~ Joining the litany of 10-game winners is definitely something to consider when looking for starting pitchers, but what you may not know about Floyd is that he has surrendered 19 stolen bases, all while batters have a slugging percentage of .384. With an 86.36% success rate, I will always start players like Joey Gathright, Rajai Davis, or even Coco Crisp over the power hitters when facing Floyd.

Jered Weaver, LAA ~ Jered Weaver may be turning around his season in his last two starts, going 13.1 innings, striking out twelve, and surrendering only two earned runs. But Weaver has not been able to avoid the susceptibility to give up a stolen base. Weaver stands alone in third place in surrendering stolen bases with 18. Couple this statistic with the .396 slugging percentage he has given up thus far and you have the makings of a potentially profitable night on the base paths. Runners have an 85.71% success rate this season, and with Weaver’s delivery that number is not going to decrease unless he really starts striking out people more often.

Kevin Millwood, TEX ~ Not only does Kevin Millwood sport a high earned run average (4.93), and spend most of his time in a hitters’ park, but he also has another notch on his belt. He is fourth on this list for surrendering 17 stolen bases with base runners’ success rate at 80.95%, and an unimpressive .460 slugging percentage. There is no doubt that he has the capability on any given night to strike out double-digit batters, but he also has the propensity to deliver so slowly that any average base runner has a sporting chance of stealing a base.

Jose Contreras, CWS ~ Jose Contreras joins fellow pitching mate Gavin Floyd in the top five of this list. Contreras is one of two pitchers that have given up 16 stolen bases, but the difference is in the number of times that a runner was actually thrown out. Base runners have a 94.12% success rate when attempting to steal a base. With two pitchers in the top five, the blame then has to also fall on A.J. Pierzynski’s inability to deliver a fast and accurate ball to the covering second baseman or shortstop.

Greg Maddux, SD ~ There are many things that start to wane in one’s career and Greg Maddux is starting to feel the effects of his age, all around. Maddux joins Contreras with 16 surrendered stolen bases this season, the difference being the two thieves that were caught. Maddux is giving up a higher slugging percentage to date (.422), but the article is focused on whom is best to steal against and who is likelier to give up an extra-base hit. With runners stealing bases at an 88.88% clip, he falls to sixth on the list, but this is close enough that he could essentially be listed as 6a.

Brandon Webb, ARI ~ He may be in Cy Young contention, likely to have 20 wins, strike out 200 batters, and pitch over 200 innings every year, but there is one statistic you may not know about this recently selected All-Star. Brandon Webb has surrendered 15 stolen bases this season. I would have to believe that you are as shocked as I am. A player with this many stellar statistics has a fatal flaw; he gives up stolen bases. The only way that this is effective is if you have a player that has some speed and can handle pitches that have a tendency to fall off the table. He is definitely a pitcher that you put your best bats in the line-up, but if you are choosing between a pure homerun hitter and a high-average batter with better-than average speed, you go with the guy who can hit and run.

Daniel Cabrera, BAL ~ I would have to believe that this has as much to do with his nine wild pitches thus far this season, demonstrating that he does not have complete command of his pitches, enabling the fleet of foot to simply wait and watch. Cabrera joins Webb with 15 surrendered stolen bases, but he has also caught four base runners as opposed to only two by Webb and his battery mate, Chris Snyder. The thieves of the base paths have averaged 78.94% in their attempts.

Garrett Olson, BAL ~ Surrendering 14 bases with only one caught thus far this season, Olson joins his Baltimore brother, Cabrera on this list. A 93.33% success rate is going to put any base runner on the offensive and give Olson and his catcher heartburn every start. He has surrendered the least amount of total bases of the pitchers on this list, but also touts one of the highest success rates to base stealers.

Tim Lincecum, SFG ~ Tim Lincecum may look like he is only a few days over fifteen, but “The Freak” can flat-out pitch. With a frame that cannot be more than 180 pounds, he has the rare ability to hurl 98-mile hour fastballs with deadly accuracy. With an All-Star selection to add to his young, budding career, Lincecum can also add that due to his uncanny delivery, in which he gets every ounce of his weight behind each pitch, he also has a tendency to surrender a few stolen bases in the process. Lincecum has allowed 14 stolen bases, placing him last on this list, only catching one thief in the process. However, I can say that with a .323 slugging percentage against him, he has the lowest of any pitcher on this list, including All-Star mate, Brandon Webb.

Hopefully this is a list of pitchers that you can jot down next to your home computer as a reference guide when you are deciding on who to plug into your line-up for your daily and weekly roster submissions. Until next time, happy hunting on the waiver wire, and may your team simply scorch the base paths.