Astros: 10 stats comparing Brantley and Reddick for an important decision

Stats #3-4: Brantley’s and Reddick’s base running

Key Stat #3:  Sprint Speed

According to Baseball Savant, last season Brantley registered at 26.4 feet per second sprinting, while Reddick achieved 26.7. In other words, Reddick proved slightly faster than Brantley in 2019, but only by mere inches per second.

It’s close. However, over the last 5 seasons, Brantley has not eclipsed the 27-feet-per-second mark sprinting threshold that Reddick has achieved even as recently as 2018.

Also of note, Reddick gained over a foot more of ground at full speed per second in 2017 than he did just last season. This naturally leads to the question: could Reddick have been playing banged up throughout 2019?

Career advantage: Reddick
2019 advantage: Reddick

Key Stat #4: Stolen bases

Over the course of their careers, Brantley holds the advantage in steals, swiping 121 stolen bases to Reddick’s 60. Moreover, Brantley has been called safe 79 percent of the time on steal attempts to Reddick’s 76 percent over the course of their careers.

However, last season told a different story. Reddick stole five bags, and was caught twice, good for a 71-percent success rate. Meanwhile, Brantley featured less success, securing three steals in five attempts, resulting in a 60-percent success rate.

Both players experienced less efficiency stealing bases last season than their career averages. This might be indicative of older players possibly making more conservative decisions on the basepaths in hopes of not getting thrown out.

Career advantage: Brantley
2019 advantage: Reddick