Non-contending Augusts are probably one of the most difficult things to endure as a baseball fan. It’s not yet September, so there aren’t many call ups getting their proverbial “cups of coffee” in the big leagues. And the specter of a playoff race has long since flown away. That leaves us with little else but to look for glimmers of hope, those little bright spots that tell us that maybe, just maybe, the local 9 can turn it around soon.

Believe it or not, one area where the Rockies are improving this year is with baserunning. Yes, the TOOTBLANingest team that ever was actually has made some strides on the base paths in 2015. The following stats are through games of August 30th and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

There’s a lot to like here. At the current rate, the team is set to improve on total number of stolen bases mightily, thanks in no small part to career highs from outfielder Charlie Blackmon (35 SB in 549 PA) and second basemen DJ LeMahieu (19 SB in 507 PA). Nobody else on the team has swiped more than 5. However much they have improved, the team efficiency still lags behind the league average 70% success rate, which, as we discussed last fall, is also the threshold between helping and hurting the team overall. This is why the Rockies are still costing themselves runs when they try to steal bases, according to weighted stolen base runs (click here for a brief explanation of value based baserunning metrics, and for more about wSB specifically, click here).

While Blackmon has already secured a career high in stolen bases with a month left in the season, he’s essentially maintained a similar efficiency, 73% successful this year against 74% last year, which is why he’s been a valuable base stealer (1.6 wSB). But when it comes to stealing bases, LeMahieu has really turned his game up another level.

Not only has DJ nearly doubled his stolen base total from last year, but he has gotten so efficient at stealing bases that he has gone from a complete liability to a major asset, leading the team in wSB just one year after finishing last among all 42 Rockies who set foot in the batter’s box last year. In fact, his 86% success rate ranks 15th in major league baseball among those with at least 5 attempts.

“DJ is not your burner, so he has to rely on his smarts, and overall seeing different things to get his jumps,” said baserunning coordinator Eric Young. “He’s really making an adjustment and he’s really thinking about a lot of things (that go) into it, that’s why he’s so efficient.”

Going into the season, both Blackmon and LeMahieu had set goals for improving their baserunning, specifically their base stealing. For Charlie, it wasn’t so much about achieving certain benchmarks as it was about maintaining a certain mentality. “When I recognize opportunities I need to go ahead and seize those opportunities, rather than be too conservative or be worried about being thrown out and lose my aggressiveness,” said Blackmon. “I need to keep my aggressiveness up but also make good decisions, like “Is this the right time to be running? Is this going to help us win the game?’”

“I think one of the most important parts about being a baserunner is helping your team score that run; you’re running for the team.” – Charlie Blackmon, Rockies Centerfielder

Charlie’s aggressiveness has turned into more stolen bases but where it has really paid off is in the other aspects of baserunning. Extra bases taken percentage (XBT%) measures the percentage of times the runner advanced more than one base on a single or more than two bases on a double, when possible. Charlie himself went from a below-average 36% in 2014 to 58% in 2015.

But this isn’t just something we’ve seen with Charlie. Last year, the Rockies as a team were below average, finishing 26th in XBT%. This year, they lead the league at 47%, an incredible mark when league average is 39%. “My main thing: You don’t have to be fast to be a good base runner, if you put in the time and you focus,” said Young. “And, at times, we’ll have a mental lapse on the bases. But when guys are focused and they’re getting their correct secondary, then they can be aggressive and react to a ball that’s hit and they can go to third base [from first].”

This mentality applies to everyone on the team. “At Coors Field, having the big gaps, if you’re on first, you’re trying to go first to third on every base hit,” said Blackmon. “Even our slow guys know they need to be going first to third.” This type of aggressiveness is how a team can go from being well below average in ultimate baserunning (UBR, more info here), to the third in the league.

Here’s a breakdown of how individual players have done on the bases. Only non-pitchers are listed, though team totals include pitchers.

2015 Rockies Baserunning Name PA SB CS SB% XBT% UBR wSB BsR TOOTBLAN Charlie Blackmon 549 35 13 73% 58% 2 1.6 4.3 6 Nolan Arenado 520 1 3 25% 54% 0.9 -1.2 -1.5 4 DJ LeMahieu 507 19 3 86% 47% 2.6 2.3 3.2 4 Carlos Gonzalez 480 2 0 100% 43% 0.7 0.2 0.9 3 Nick Hundley 366 5 6 45% 41% 0.9 -1.5 -0.1 3 Troy Tulowitzki 351 0 0 42% -1.2 -0.2 -2.4 5 Ben Paulsen 297 0 2 0% 59% 1.1 -0.9 0.6 3 Brandon Barnes 242 2 2 50% 69% 2 -0.5 1.5 0 Wilin Rosario 188 2 1 67% 35% -1.4 -0.1 -1.9 4 Daniel Descalso 167 1 2 33% 27% 0.3 -0.6 0.1 0 Corey Dickerson 153 0 1 0% 38% -1.4 -0.5 -1.8 3 Michael McKenry 152 2 2 50% 28% -0.9 -0.5 -1.1 1 Jose Reyes 114 5 4 56% 57% 0.7 -0.6 0 0 Drew Stubbs 114 2 1 67% 67% -0.7 0 -0.5 1 Justin Morneau 104 0 0 43% 0.1 0 0.3 0 Rafael Ynoa 93 1 0 100% 70% 0.2 0.2 0.3 0 Kyle Parker 69 0 0 25% 0.1 0 0.4 0 Matt McBride 35 0 0 67% 0 0 0 0 Justin Garneau 14 0 0 100% 0 0 0 League Average 72% 39% Team Total 4777 77 40 66% 47% 6 -2.5 2.1 38 Name PA SB CS SB% XBT% UBR wSB BsR TOOTBLAN

Put it all together and the Rockies have gone from one of the most painful teams to watch on the bases (27th in 2014 with a -10.7 BsR, where 0 is league average–more info here) to a team that can count baserunning as a strength—or, at least, not a liability (2.1 BsR, 12th in 2015). So how have the players improved so much in the space of less than a year? For his part, Charlie Blackmon credits experience for his improvement. “I’d say a lot of it is having the experience and realizing how to prepare. And the other part is being out there consistently so that you feel comfortable executing all that preparation.”

Baserunning coach Eric Young partially chalks it up to getting to know one another better. “Last year was a learning experience for both of us,” said Young. “I had to get a feel of how they were, what their mentality was like, and they had to get a feel for how I coach and my more aggressive style.”

The Rockies still run into too many outs, even though they seem to be better about avoiding the dreaded TOOTBLAN. We see this in their below average stolen base percentage. Manager Walt Weiss has given everybody “the green light” on the bases, which is how the team ends up with Nick Hundley, 3rd leading base stealer. He also has been caught stealing more than anyone on the team other than Blackmon, making him the worst base stealer on the team by wSB, just barely ahead of Nolan Arenado, who is 1-for-4 on stealing bases.

But the worst overall baserunner on the Rockies is no longer on the team: Troy Tulowitzki put up a BsR of -2.4 while a member of the Rockies, meaning he cost the Rockies more than 2 runs on the bases. So if you’re looking for a reason to be glad he’s no longer on the team, here is a very, very small one. But if it makes you feel any better, his replacement, Jose Reyes, has gone 5-for-9 stealing bases, which has led to net zero contribution on the base paths. So, clearly, the Rockies are winning the trade on that front.

But improving the other aspects of baserunning has helped the Rockies overcome this remaining deficiency.

Running the bases isn’t exactly a make-or-break factor for a team on pace to finish last in their division (again); rather it’s a habit that can help a team secure a few more wins here and there. And good habits in August of a down year (hopefully) become good habits in September of a contending year. Fortunately, in the case of the Rockies, we’ve seen that big improvements can come seemingly in the blink of an eye.