{"id":293,"date":"2025-07-17T15:39:42","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/glossary\/?p=293"},"modified":"2025-07-18T04:37:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T04:37:38","slug":"stolen-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/glossary\/stolen-base\/","title":{"rendered":"Stolen Base"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-a-stolen-base\">What is a Stolen Base?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A&nbsp;<strong>stolen base<\/strong>&nbsp;occurs when a baserunner advances to the next base&nbsp;while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate, without the help of a hit, walk, error, or passed ball. If the runner reaches safely before being tagged out, it\u2019s recorded as a stolen base (SB). However, if the runner is thrown out, it\u2019s scored as a caught stealing (CS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over time, the stolen base has remained one of the most exciting plays in the game. It rewards speed, timing, and instincts \u2014 giving teams an opportunity to apply pressure without needing contact from the batter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-is-a-stolen-base-used\">How is a stolen base used?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stolen bases are used to measure a player\u2019s baserunning ability and aggressiveness. Players who steal bases effectively can disrupt pitchers, alter defensive alignments, and put themselves in better scoring position. As a result, managers often lean on base stealers in late-game situations or during close matchups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to basic counting stats, stolen bases are also used in advanced metrics like&nbsp;<strong>stolen base percentage (SB%)<\/strong>, which evaluates efficiency rather than just volume. Stolen base percentage (SB%) is calculated by dividing stolen bases by total steal attempts. A higher SB% reflects a runner\u2019s efficiency and value on the bases, not just their speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-is-a-stolen-base-calculated\"><strong>How is a Stolen base calculated? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-to-record-a-stolen-base-the-runner-must\">To record a stolen base, the runner must:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Attempt to advance to the next base during the pitcher\u2019s delivery<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reach that base safely without the benefit of a hit, error, or wild pitch<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Not be part of a double steal where another runner is thrown out<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stolen bases can occur on any base, but most often happen from first to second. Runners are not awarded a stolen base if they advance on a passed ball, wild pitch, or defensive indifference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-stolen-base-examples\">Stolen Base Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ricky Henderson is the only MLB player ever to have 1000+ stolen bases in their career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stathead.com\/tiny\/DUIcY\">https:\/\/stathead.com\/tiny\/DUIcY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ronald Acuna in 2023, while hitting 41 home runs, stole 73 bases, making the 40\/70 club which had never been done before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stathead.com\/tiny\/D8eJl\">https:\/\/stathead.com\/tiny\/D8eJl<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shohei Ohtani in 2024, became the only player to hit 50 home runs, while stealing 50 bases, making his own 50\/50 club which hadn&#8217;t been done before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stathead.com\/tiny\/YdUoo\">https:\/\/stathead.com\/tiny\/YdUoo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a Stolen Base? A&nbsp;stolen base&nbsp;occurs when a baserunner advances to the next base&nbsp;while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate, without the help of a hit, walk, error, or passed ball. If the runner reaches safely before being tagged out, it\u2019s recorded as a stolen base (SB). However, if the runner [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-statistics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.9 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Stolen Base: Baseball-Reference.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A\u00a0stolen base\u00a0occurs when a baserunner advances to the next base\u00a0while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate, without the help of a hit, walk, error, or passed ball.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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