Ellie De La Cruz doesn’t just lead the league in stolen bases, he pushes the limits of how often a player can run and still stay efficient. As of July 3, he had 74 true opportunities to steal — situations where he was on base with an open next base and no real obstruction. From those, he attempted 71 steals. That’s nearly a 96 percent attempt rate, meaning if he’s on first or second with a clear path, he almost always takes off. Of those opportunities, 16 involved him making two attempts — either retrying after a foul ball or swiping two bags in one trip. Three times he tried to steal three times in a single opportunity.
Digging into the rare times he didn’t go, there were 30 such instances. Some made sense situationally, like low-leverage innings or tricky left-handed pitchers. In five of those, staying put likely cost the Reds, as double plays followed. But often it didn’t hurt — a few times he moved up on contact or did enough damage on the basepaths anyway. His most aggressive stretch came in mid-May, when over 16 games he had 11 chances and made 18 attempts, going every time he could. The numbers show De La Cruz isn’t just fast — he’s relentless. If there’s open space in front of him, he’s almost always going to try and take it.