Spencer Steer's slip-up shines light on truly baffling Reds stat

Following Tyler Stephenson's blast in the second inning of the Cincinnati Reds' game against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night, Spencer Steer drew a walk. During the second pitch of the next at-bat, the Reds' infielder took a staggered start, and then accelerated toward second base but was gunned down by Royals' catcher Salvador Perez. It was the first time all season Steer was thrown out on the base paths, but the Reds as a team have been much worse.

Believe it or not, Cincinnati is tied for the league lead in caught stealing, having been thrown out 19 times. The only team that matches that stat was the Reds opponent on Wednesday night, the Royals. The Reds are now 54-for-73 on stolen base attempts which equates to a 73.9% stolen base success rate; much lower than their success rate in 2024 (82.1%).

Spencer Steer was caught stealing for the first time vs. Royals, but the Reds lead MLB in that category

While many Reds fans probably thought Cincinnati led the league in stolen bases last season, they did not. The Washington Nationals' 223 swipes were the most in the major leagues. The Milwaukee Brewers were second with 217 stolen bases and the Reds came in third with 207. Elly De La Cruz, however, did lead all big league players with 67 steals in 2024.

Royals' third baseman Maikel Garcia leads all of MLB players this season, having been thrown out seven times while attempting to steal. De La Cruz, however, ranks second after being nabbed five times in 2025. The Reds' superstar was thrown out 16 times in 2024, giving De La Cruz an 80.7% success rate. This season, Elly is converting a little over 77% of his stolen base attempts.

Though De La Cruz's number's are down, there are other culprits as well. Jake Fraley is just 3-for-5 (60%), TJ Friedl is 8-for-11 (72.7%), and Will Benson has gone 1-for-2 on stolen base attempts this season. The only player finding tremendous success this season is Matt McLain who is a perfect 11-for-11.

Steals are part of the Reds' DNA, especially with speedy players like McLain, Benson, and De La Cruz — all of whom have a sprint speed of 28.9 ft/ second or better. But Cincinnati needs to be more efficient when stealing bags. Though the Reds have scored more runs of late, this offense cannot afford to have a stolen base success below 80%. That's a number that must improve as the season moves along.

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