Who has more speed to make something happen on the basepaths?
Yes, Jerry Owens has not stolen a base this spring. And yes, he has actually been caught stealing 3 times. But Owens has a SB success rate of greater than 70% during his minor league and major league career, and he already has a season in the majors in which he has stolen 32 bases. Dewayne Wise can steal bases, but certainly not in the quantity that Jerry Owens can. We basically have no other source of top-of-the-order speed, and Jerry Owens is one of the few players in the organization who can help us evolve from the station-to-station baseball we have been playing over the past few years. Who projects as the best leadoff hitter? Well, if Jerry Owens has had the most success getting on base in his career, and of he is the most prolific base stealer, I think that qualifies him as the best leadoff hitter out of Dewayne Wise and Brian Anderson. Wise and Anderson are much more suited to bottom-of-the-order spots in the lineup, but we have Josh Fields and whoever keeps 2B warm for Gordon B
