The Boston Red Sox supposedly don't run. No one gave Jacoby the memo.

Over the last 14 days, we have seen several prominent base-stealers step up their games as well as a few names that you could/would not expect to join the ranks of the base thieves.

Turning up the Heat

Ichiro Suzuki had not been himself regarding his stolen base totals through the first month or so of the season, but in his last 51 at-bats, he has stolen nine bases. Thousands of fantasy managers are finally exhaling as one of their top base-stealers got out his sprinting shoes and starting to up his numbers.

Also joining Suzuki on a base-stealing spree is Colorado Rockies’ center fielder Wily Taveras. Taveras has stolen eight bases in the last 37 at-bats. Taveras, who is somewhat of a one-trick pony, will likely be a hot free agent pickup this week because of his stolen base output. If you are need of steals, Taveras will help you out as well as rack up some runs and even some base on balls, if your league uses that as a category.

With more and more playing time, Matt Kemp is starting to display some of the reasons the Los Angeles Dodgers refused to trade him in the off-season. Kemp, in the past 14 days, has stolen six bases, racked up 11 runs, 18 runs batted in, all while batting an impressive .364 average.

Mets’ shortstop Jose Reyes has also stepped up his game in the stolen base category, notching six stolen bases in the past two weeks. Something needs to be said of his batting average though, only batting .229 over this same time period. With only two home runs and a poor batting average (.269) over the past 48 at bats, there are obvious reasons that Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez is valued ahead of Reyes. Year to date, Ramirez has one more stolen base (10), eight home runs, and a batting average of .317.

There are several other players that are expected to produce in this area and have finally started to make some moves on the base paths in the last 14 days, including Jacoby Ellsbury of Boston (5), Hanley Ramirez of Florida (5), and Carl Crawford of Tampa Bay (4).

Surprising Steals

Here are a few players making the best of their situation that may have value, at least for a limited time in the fantasy world.

Scott Podsednik, backup outfielder for the Colorado Rockies, is making his playing time matter, stealing an impressive five bases in 19 at-bats. With a .474 batting average, he is an exceptional free agent pickup when placed in the starting lineup. He is an absolute pickup in deeper NL-only leagues.

With the poor plate presence of shortstop Brian Bocock, the San Francisco Giants added another speedster from their minor league organizations to the Major League roster. The Giants promoted Emmanuel Burris when they waived Rajai Davis. Burris has stolen four bases in only 29 plate appearances in his young Major League career. He has limited value until Omar Vizquel returns to the lineup…if he returns to the lineup. As for Davis, the Oakland Athletics have since claimed him.

Another Giant that is making news on the base paths is another utility role player, Eugenio Velez. Velez has stolen five bases over the past two weeks and is someone who is likely to stay with the organization over Bocock or Burris even when Vizquel rejoins the big league staff.

Desperation

Are you desperate for stolen bases? Here are three unlikely sources to consider.

The first is Cleveland Indians’ backup second baseman Jamey Carroll who has stolen three bases in only 19 plate appearances. The second is Ray Durham, who despite his age and fragility has still managed three stolen bases over the past two weeks. The last of the list is Luis Castillo, who had undergone offseason knee surgery, appears to be in rare form and has stolen three bases within the same period.