Caught Stealing
CSA runner retired while attempting to steal, charged against their stolen base success rate.
Caught stealing is recorded when a runner is put out attempting to advance under the same conditions that would have earned a stolen base had they made it. The putout goes to the fielder covering the bag and the assist to the catcher, usually scored 2-4 or 2-6.
The pairing with stolen bases is what makes either number meaningful. A runner with twenty steals and fifteen times caught has cost their team runs; the same twenty steals with two caught is a genuine weapon. Success rate, not raw total, is the stat that matters.
A runner picked off and then retired in a rundown is charged as caught stealing only if they were attempting to advance. A straight pickoff at the bag is recorded separately.
What is a good stolen base success rate?
Roughly seventy-five percent is the widely cited break-even point at higher levels, below which the outs given away cost more than the bases gained. In youth baseball the threshold is lower, because a caught stealing is less costly when scoring is high.
Let the scorebook keep itself.
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