What is a Caught Stealing? Definition, Formula, and Example
A caught stealing (CS) is charged when a baserunner attempting to steal a base is tagged out before reaching it, ending both the attempt and often the inning's momentum.
What Is a Caught Stealing in Baseball?
A caught stealing (CS) is recorded when a runner tries to advance to the next base on a steal attempt and is put out before reaching it — almost always tagged out by the fielder taking the catcher's throw. It is the failure half of the risk/reward that defines the stolen base: the runner gambles that he can beat the ball to the bag, and when he loses, his team surrenders a baserunner and, frequently, an out it could not afford. A caught stealing wipes a runner off the bases, so it is one of the most damaging non-strikeout outs a hitter's team can make because it erases a runner who already reached safely.
How Caught Stealing Is Recorded and Measured
The official scorer charges a CS whenever a runner is out attempting to steal, is picked off and thrust into a rundown, or is thrown out advancing on a pitch he broke early on. It is not charged on a failed hit-and-run where the batter makes contact, nor on defensive indifference late in blowouts. The number that actually matters is the stolen-base success rate:
SB% = SB / (SB + CS)
Analysts peg the break-even point — where steals stop helping and start hurting run expectancy — at roughly 75%. Below that, a runner's caught stealings cost more runs than his steals create. Catchers are graded by the inverse, caught stealing percentage (CS%), which is CS divided by total attempts against them.
Worked Example: Ronald Acuña Jr., 2023
In his MVP season Ronald Acuña Jr. stole 73 bases and was caught 14 times. His success rate:
73 / (73 + 14) = 73 / 87 = 83.9%
That 83.9% sits comfortably above the 75% break-even line, which is why Acuña's aggression added real value instead of bleeding outs. Compare that to a hypothetical runner who steals 20 bases but is caught 12 times — a 62.5% rate — whose net contribution is negative despite the flashy raw total. The 14 caught stealings are the honest tax on Acuña's 73 steals; the number to judge is the ratio, not either figure alone.
Why Caught Stealing Matters
Front offices use success rate to decide who gets the green light. A runner with elite sprint speed but poor jumps and reads may post a losing rate and be told to stop running. In run-expectancy terms a caught stealing typically costs about twice as many runs as a successful steal gains, which is exactly why the break-even sits so high. For fantasy and DFS players, CS is invisible in most scoring formats — you bank the steals and ignore the outs — but it shapes real-life playing time and lineup spots, which drives counting-stat opportunity.
Limitations and Common Misconceptions
Caught stealing does not capture pickoffs cleanly across all scorekeepers, and it says nothing about *why* a runner was out — a perfect throw beats a perfect jump, and the runner still eats the CS. It also undercounts baserunning skill on its own; a low CS total can simply mean a player never runs. Judge attempts, not raw caught stealings, and always pair CS with success rate and volume.
Related Terms
In Legends Deck: A card's Baserunning rating blends stolen-base volume with success rate, so a player who steals 40 bags at an 85% clip outrates one who steals 45 at 68%. Caught stealings feed directly into the simulation's steal-attempt engine — send a low-rated runner on a good catcher's arm and the CS math punishes you the same way it punishes a real third-base coach.