Welcome back, FA Nation! Get ready for this week’s edition of Category Impact! If you’re new to the site or just forget how this article works since last week, let me offer a quick refresher.

Category Impact will offer up anywhere from four to six players that can help you out in a certain category, whether it is stolen bases, home runs, or strikeouts. Some weeks, there will be an added focus on a specific categories, while others will be just players that you will want to pick up, but there will be in-depth analysis detailing exactly what category, or categories, a certain player will be of added benefit.

This week’s featured category is….SPEED!

Amed Rosario , NYM SS – Yes, here we are again, talking about Rosario and how he needs to be on your fantasy team. It’s quite possible I’m one of the biggest Rosario truthers, but it’s warranted, people! Over the last week, the dude is hitting .367 with three stolen bases. He stole two bags in one game the other night, and he has 21 stolen bases through 145 games. New York is letting him run plenty, and with time, he’ll become more successful when swiping bags. He’s 21-for-31 on the year, but let’s cut him some slack, as he’s only 22 years old and has just 190 some games under his belt.

Due to his hot bat of late, his ownership is creeping up, but he’s still available in roughly 60 percent of ESPN fantasy baseball leagues! One more home run and he joins the double-digit home run and stolen base club, which is quite an achievement to say the least. Pick him up and reap the rewards for the stretch run.

Gerardo Parra , COL OF – Parra’s playing time is hit-or-miss lately, but that hasn’t stopped him from swiping the occasional base or two. In the past week, he’s received about 10 at-bats and swiped two bases. Pretty solid, eh? His walk rate is higher than his career mark, but a slightly reduced batting average from recent years has kept his OBP right around .340 for the second straight season. Unlike the next guy in this edition of Category Impact, Parra’s success rate of 73.3 percent isn’t necessarily great, it’s an improvement upon last year’s 28.6 percent, and 2016’s 60 percent clip. His fantasy value over the next week and a half would receive a slight boost, if he were guaranteed to play every day, but given the logjam of Colorado outfielders worthy of playing time, Parra is relegated to a limited role. However, at just three percent ownership over on ESPN, Parra is still incredibly valuable to your fantasy team, as he could swipe another base or two before the season comes to an end. EVERY STEAL COUNTS!

Jonathan Villar , BAL 2B/SS – Villar is only hitting .179 over the last week, which certainly isn’t good. However, what’s encouraging is that he’s swiped three bags over the course of the last seven days, despite recording just five hits and two walks. After a rough start to the year and ultimately being dropped by fantasy owners and traded by the Milwaukee organization, Villar is currently sitting on a solid stat line that includes a .263 batting average, 14 home runs, and for our purposes with this article, 29 stolen bases. His ownership is increasing of late, as it’s near 50 percent, which is a smidge high for what I like to include in this article, but you never know who is potentially available in your league as of now, especially if half your league jumped ship and turned their full attention to football.

In fact, his success rate in 2018 (87.9%) is the best rate of his career, which is certainly encouraging. Villar is still only 27 years old and he could be a prime candidate next season for ample stolen bases again, especially if the success rate continues and he can get that walk rate back up to where it was in his magical 2016 season with the Brewers.

Kristopher Negrón , SEA SS/OF – Offering some unique positional flexibility for your team’s lineup, Negron has stolen one base since coming up to the big league squad. The guy can almost play anywhere and at 32 years old, he’s a seasoned newcomer to the bigs. He used to be a pretty big speed guy in the minors, but as the years have gone by, his speed has tailed off a bit, as expected. However, he was 10-for-13 on stolen base attempts in 118 games at the Triple-A level before joining the Diamondbacks and Mariners in the bigs this season. He’s only attempted to run once, but it was successful, and he logged his first stolen base in the big leagues since 2016.

Negron won’t be a huge statistical producer in any one category, but he can do just enough across the board to give your team a slight boost. Additionally, his positional flexibility, which could include upwards of three positions, depending on your host site, is an added benefit late in the season, as you can increase your chances of maximizing your team’s number of at-bats before the season terminates.

Adalberto Mondesí , KC 2B/SS – Not going to go too much detail into Mondesi, as his ownership is up over 60 percent on ESPN formats. However, if for whatever reason Mondesi is available in your league, go pick him up now. He’s gaining a ton of steam heading into 2019, as he’s hitting nearly .290 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI. Go right now and see if he’s available, and if so, get him before its too late.