Baserunning: Better, but Still Lagging

Baserunning improved year over year, but there are still runs to go

The Astros made major strides on the bases in 2025, going from -12.8 BsR to -5.5.

For the uninitiated, BsR is a Fangraphs stat that attempts to capture the “Number of runs above or below average a player has been worth on the bases, based on stolen bases, caught stealing, extra bases taken, outs on the bases, and avoiding double plays.”

The improvement of 7.3 runs was significant and moved the Astros 5 spots up in the league rankings, although they still ranked (tied for) 23rd and were 5.5 runs away from being league average.

While the improvement is notable, it should also be mentioned that the -5.5 total places the Astros in the 21st percentile in the league and dead last in the AL West, meaning there is much work still to be done.

That said, Houston did reverse a trend, as before 2025 they had gotten worse at running the base for three consecutive seasons (2022-2024).

Jeremy Pena led the Astros in BsR with a total of 4.3, a number that placed him 17th in the league for qualified players, but outside of Pena, no other qualified Astro (Pena, Walker, Altuve and Diaz) had a positive BsR.

A bright spot is that, in general, the younger players, such as Cam Smith (1.8), Jacob Melton (1.1), and Zach Cole (0.5), were better than the veterans, which hints at a shift as these young players receive more playing time.

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