On our Daily Matchups segment of Thursday's Fantasy Baseball Today, I recommended starting Denard Span -- not merely due to his own merits, but also because of the defensive shortcomings of the Phillies' catching corps. There aren't too many teams that stray far from the norm in terms of catcher defense, so when potential base stealers come up against those squads, it can pay to take advantage of it.
It just so happens that Span gets another favorable stolen base matchup over the weekend, as the Nationals will face the Padres. That will be especially true in the games started by Yasmani Grandal, who has thrown out just one of 21 prospective base stealers. The same goes for Span's teammate, Danny Espinosa, who is 5 for 5 in stolen base attempts.
If Espinosa doesn't strike your fancy, consider starting Kolten Wong at second base this weekend. His Cardinals face the Blue Jays, who have allowed just as many steals as the Phillies (45), but with an even lower caught stealing rate (17 percent).
