Guardians Abandoned This Game Plan For Part Of 2023 Season

The Cleveland Guardians finished with the fifth-most steals in MLB during the 2023 season.

Major League Baseball implemented new rules at the start of the 2023 season which were meant to improve the pace of play and action on the base paths. 

From increasing the actual size of the bases to limiting the number of disengagements by pitchers, these regulations seemed to favor the Cleveland Guardians' play style.

Jun 29, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan (38) slides across home plate during the fifth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports / © William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports

With their youth and energy, the Guardians should be eager when it comes to stealing bases. For the most part, this was the case, except for one part of the season.

Here's a breakdown of Cleveland's stolen base attempts by month for the 2023 season.

	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October
Stolen Bases	3	32	13	12	27	25	38	1
Caught Stealing	0	7	3	8	3	4	11	0
Total Attempts	3	39	16	20	30	29	49	1

These final numbers gave the Guardians the fifth-most stolen bases in baseball, and third-most in the American League this year. 

The Guardians with the most steals this season were:

1. Andrés Giménez - 30
2. José Ramírez - 28
3. Steven Kwan - 21
4. Myles Straw - 20

However, Cleveland's team total could've been even higher if they had stuck to this game plan for the entire season.

Looking back at the table, the Guardians seemed to move away from stealing bases in the months of May (16 attempts) and June (20 attempts). 

Why did they move away from this aggressive style?

Zack Meisel of The Athletic reported that Terry Francona believed opponents were starting to catch on to Cleveland's strategy that had been present even in 2022. Pitchers were changing their release to make it more difficult for the Guardians to steal.

Cleveland, however, recovered and finished the final months of the season with a high number of stealing attempts. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in 2024.