Pittsburgh Pirates base running: Narrative vs. Numbers

Jul 31, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Starling Marffte (6) is congratulated by center fielder Andrew McCutcffhen (22) and right fielder Gregory Polaffnco (25) after the Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Outfield:

• Andrew McCutchen: 0.9 BsR
• Starling Marte: -2.2 BsR
• Gregory Polanco: 4.5 BsR
  • 1.1 BsR (Above average)

The first thing to look at is that Andrew McCutchen in 2015 is basically an almost league average base-runner, which isn’t surprising given the decrease in his stolen base numbers.

Starling Marte has been a below averge base-runner, which isn’t all that surprising with how often he’s over slid bags and broke from second for third on a ground ball to the short stop.

The biggest surprise is how solid of a base-runner Gregory Polanco has been in 2015. Polanco can look clumsy at times, but he’s easily the best base-runner among all the Pirates outfielders.

Take Polanco’s good base running, couple it with McCutchen’s average and Marte’s below average and you have an outfield that is mostly above average as base-runners.

The outfield of dreams scores out as an above average base-running group, but what about the slower portion of the Pirates team?

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