The managers are following the orders of the front office. They use laptops to tell them where to position their defense and what pitches to call. The Dodgers new hitting instructor never played a game of baseball in his life. He has a laptop too... BTW- Last year the Dodgers won the West with 92 wins. At their current 24 games over .500, the Dodgers only need to play .500 ball the rest of the way to reach 92 wins...
In modern day baseball I wonder if all players can bunt? They work so much on the exit velocity of the baseball, and the plane of their swings, when do they practice bunting. Now some players do bunt, Jose Altuve is an excellent bunter, not sure we have many other guys who can do what he does and since we are in the AL there is the DH so since pitchers don't bat much they probably don't work on bunting either.
This conversation emphasizes why I like college baseball more than the MLB. To be clear I love ML baseball, but the way it's played is not how kids should be taught. It's not unlike the NBA. The players are so good and so unbelievably athletic that they don't need or want to play the game according to the fundamentals, and ML managers are complicit (a la Aaron Boone). Kids see this on TV and in person and imitate these amazing athletes while not learning the fundamental aspects of the game, which are necessary if they hope to advance to the HS level. For the most part, the dad coaches are grown up versions of the kids, so they're no help. Most kids don't have the talent or attitude to play the game beyond 12-13 years old, but there are many who can overcome having less natural talent by working at mastering the fine points of defense and hitting. Heck, I'm just an old man. What do I know?
Did anyone catch the double squeeze that Michigan pulled off in the Regionals? The inside game works. All the books and Tony La Russa be damned. Take that computer sideways and ram it up your keester. Line up in a shift against a team I coach and we will drag bunt you until you play us straight up with a 3rd baseman on the cut out. Now, those hitting lanes cut off by the 'sabercyberstars' are all now wide open and the rally is on before you've ever hit the ball out of the infield. And just as you've finally given in to playing the game 'old school', I'll call for a drag or push bunt up the first base line scoring the run and quite possibly earning the hit while moving the other runners into scoring position.
Great end to the Astros/Orioles game last night. Yuli Gurriel scored from 1st in the bottom of the 11th. The O's catcher clearly dropped the ball on a good throw that should have had him, but then when he got control of the ball instead of tagging Gurriel he held the ball up to show the ump. From all the angles it was clear he never tagged Yuli and to me at least I never saw Gurriel get his hand on the plate. Umps reviewed and upheld the call, that usually means they can't see anything to overturn rather than confirm the call which means they see it. I'll need Corey, Sid, JO'Co to watch that playat the plate to tell me if they think Gurriel ever tapped the plate.
I have not seen the play. Can you post it? My biggest umpiring concern this year has been the terrible balls-and-strikes calls.
Christian Yelich of the Brewers having quite a year, Bellinger of the Dodgers also having a big year..right now those 2 guys are the MVP candidates. Rosario of the Twins might be the AL guy.
I watched it several times. It's hard to see if the runner touched the plate but it kinda looks like he might have reached far enough under the C to do so. If he did touch the plate at the point where it appears possible, he's safe, because he never was tagged.
For AJ, Early May, Cubs sweep Cards in Chicago. Late May, Cards sweep Cubs in St. Louis. Early June, Cubs sweep Cards in Chicago. Do we see a pattern forming here?
That's what I'm thinking, touch the plate or not the catcher never tagged him. I guess it's like a guy who misses a base, if the other team doesn't catch it and do something before the next hitter takes the plate it doesn't matter. Also somebody suggested that the catcher blocked the plate before he had possession of the ball.
We don't talk much - or ever - about team infield defense. A writer for the Athletic, Mark Simon, ranks his version the top ten team defenses in MLB. He cites various stats to support his position, some of which involve the effectiveness of the shift. In short, he sees one team standing out above the others, the Dodgers. Of interest to Skybox members, the Cardinals are #3, the Astros are #5, and the Cubs are #7. You have to be a subscriber the The Athletic to read the entire article. FWIW, I found it very interesting. Here's the link: Ranking the top 10 defensive infields in baseball right now
He as safe. The catcher was blocking the plate without possession of the ball. The runner doesn't even have to touch home plate in that situation.
Interesting article Sid, thanks for the reference. No Yankee's, Red Sox or Twins on that list, which surprises me.
Jim, I didn't think the C was blocking the plate in his original position. He was on the infield side of the plate. The runner on his own (not forced) did a head first slide away from the C to the outside part of the plate, forcing the C to lean to his left at which point the plate was blocked but the runner already had committed away from the baseline. At least that's how I saw it. Of course, the safe call could have been for a couple of different reasons including obstruction, so I guess we'll never know for sure.
Looked to me like he he was blocking the runner from the plate while the ball was rolling around on the ground.