Your fantasy baseball championship is staring you right in the face.
The battle is fierce, and every roster move and statistic is of the utmost importance.
At this stage of the game, your rate stats are going to be tough to fix, so the counting stats are likely your best bet.
And one area that can be manipulated with the right roster additions is the stolen base category.
Depending on where you rank in steals, adding one or two speedsters can be the difference you need.
You’re not going to land anyone like Jose Ramirez or Jazz Chisholm Jr., who both lead MLB with seven steals each over the past two weeks, but there are a number of contributing players who could be on your waiver wire this late in the season.
If you can add one or two to bolster your place in the standings, it’s a move that is highly recommended.
Though Royals outfielder Dairon Blanco doesn’t play every day, he is rapidly becoming a coveted asset for those in need of steals.
The 31-year-old is a bit of a throwback to the Billy Hamilton days, as we don’t see many pinch-running specialists capable of helping out in fantasy.
But Blanco is appearing on a semi-regular basis, has five steals in his past six games and could provide you with a boost at a bargain price.
If you need players who play more and can contribute in a more across-the-board fashion, then Zach Neto of the Angels and Zack Gelof of the A’s are also widely available, according to roster numbers across Yahoo and ESPN.
Neto is batting .282 with a .417 OBP over his past 12 games and has eight runs scored to go along with his six stolen bases.
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Gelof may only be batting .245 over his past 13 games, but he has four steals, one home run, three RBI and six runs scored.
Other under-the-radar players who are contributing in the stolen base category include Xavier Edwards and Jesus Sanchez of the Marlins, Travis Jankowski and Leody Taveras of the Rangers, and even Reds outfielder Jake Fraley.
The names aren’t pretty, but do you want beauty or steals?
Take the ugliness and bring home your championship.
