I just realized that Alexei only net his 10th stolen base of the year tonight, and to go along with 9 caught steals. In this career, he is 36 for 59 in stolen bases, like 60% success rate, that is beyond terrible, especially for a guy with his speed.

 

I always feel like that he is one of the faster shortstops in baseball, in a 20-80 scale, he is probably a 60 or 65. A guy with his speed can easily swipe 20-25 bags every year. There is a reason why he's called the Cuban Missile. When he accelerates and gets it going, he is really fast. I remember in his rookie year, Hawk and DJ pointed out that when he start off the steal, his lead foot pushes backward instead of taking a stride forward, hence leading to a step slower. I don't know, I haven't paid attention to his baserunning lately, does he still run the same way? Why has no one teach him how to use his speed?

 

Alexei has improved his hitting a bit this year, and his defense is worlds apart from last year. If he can improve his baserunning, and continue to improve his bat, I think his inline for a .280-20-80 to go along with 25 steals, while playing exceptional defense at short. I think that is the making of an all star shortstop.

Edited September 15, 201015 yr by thxfrthmmrs

I hate holding CS's against some of the guys on this team (notably Alexei and Rios) because so many of their CS's come in situations where Ozzie decides he's willing to give up an out. Rios and Alexei are the 2 guys in particular that I feel like always run when there's 2 outs and a batter gets behind in the count, and they always get thrown out in that case.

Alexi is decent base runner and he is really fast. Those things don't always translate into base stealer. In total he is a keeper. He has a big desire to win.