The Defense Thread, 2013

[Frobby]

May 18 (10-6 loss to Rays)

- Nice glove flip from Navarro to Davis on a slow roller.

- McLouth drops a fly ball after a long dash and slide at the foul line

- A bloop fly just eludes Hardy as he and McLouth converge

- A bloop fly falls between Davis, Flaherty and Markakis.

Tampa really got the breaks tonight. None of the three balls described above were well hit. They were just hit in tough spots for the fielders to reach.

[Frobby]

May 20 (3-2 win over the Yankees)

- Nice play by Navarro on a sharp one-hopper up the middle. He got too it and made a strong throw from the OF grass.

- Navarro also made a nice leaping catch of a liner.

- Markakis made a lunge-dive for a catch in the RCF alley, looked a bit awkward but he got it done.

[LA2]

May 20 (3-2 win over the Yankees)

- Nice play by Navarro on a sharp one-hopper up the middle. He got too it and made a strong throw from the OF grass.

- Navarro also made a nice leaping catch of a liner.

- Markakis made a lunge-dive for a catch in the RCF alley, looked a bit awkward but he got it done.

That catch kept the score tied at 2-2 in the 7th inning and may have been a game-saver.

[isestrex]

Markakis' defense has been on the decline for years... but I think this year it has to be on an uptick. He's been good if not great out there.

[Frobby]

May 22 (6-3 win over the Yankees)

- Diving grab of an offline DP relay throw by Chris Davis

- Sliding catch by McLouth

- nice jumping catch by Markakis near the warning track

- spinning throw from Casilla on a ball in the 1B hole that was screened by the baserunner

I think the Casilla play ws the best of the four. The others all may have been made a little harder than they had to be. Still, a nice defensive game.

[El Gordo]

Dickerson Looked very good in CF. Nate made an amazing catch. Hardy had an E I didn't see, Davis had one that looked borderline. Didn't see the passed ball.

[luismatos4prez]

Dickerson Looked very good in CF. Nate made an amazing catch. Hardy had an E I didn't see, Davis had one that looked borderline. Didn't see the passed ball.

Passed ball hit Wieters in the glove. Should have had it easily.

Then, he threw to second. The throw was just late. The runner who started on second then turned for home. Casilla's throw was too high and the runner scored. Terrible defense all around.

Hardy's E was as easy a GB as you can get. Just dropped it in the transition to the throw.

[Frobby]

I watched most of the first 6 innings. I didn't see much after that.

1. Chris Dickerson looked smooth in CF ranging to deep RCF twice and into medium left center in the 4th with 2 outs and the score at 3-2. I know i's like the backup quarterback but he already looks better than Adam Jones out there.

2. Alexi Casilla - I'm starting to question this guy. I"ll just talk about the defense here. He looks very good at 2B BUT tonight when Gose rounded 3rd and went home on the passed ball to Wieters, Casilla could have thrown him out by ten feet. Instead, he held the ball, double pumped, and made a high throw. He screwed up a rundown a couple of weeks ago. I'm starting to wonder of this guy and doing the little things that win games and lose games.

I will get Frobby go into more detail as he's better at it than me but those two things stuck out to me. I'll let Frobby talk about Markakis holding someone to a single on the ball off the wall.

I saw very little of this game, but unfortunately I did see the 8th inning that included Hardy's error on a fairly routine grounder, and Wieters' passed ball that then led to Casilla's poor relay throw back to Wieters. Three lousy defensive plays before any outs were recorded in that inning.

I saw replays of McLouth's outstanding catch diving into the stands. I didn't see the Markakis play you referenced.

Between the errors and all the walks issued by the relievers, that was one of the ugliest games I have seen.

[OFFNY]

I watched most of the first 6 innings. I didn't see much after that.

1. Chris Dickerson looked smooth in CF ranging to deep RCF twice and into medium left center in the 4th with 2 outs and the score at 3-2. I know i's like the backup quarterback but he already looks better than Adam Jones out there.

2. Alexi Casilla - I'm starting to question this guy. I"ll just talk about the defense here. He looks very good at 2B BUT tonight when Gose rounded 3rd and went home on the passed ball to Wieters, Casilla could have thrown him out by ten feet. Instead, he held the ball, double pumped, and made a high throw. He screwed up a rundown a couple of weeks ago. I'm starting to wonder of this guy and doing the little things that win games and lose games.

I will get Frobby go into more detail as he's better at it than me but those two things stuck out to me. I'll let Frobby talk about Markakis holding someone to a single on the ball off the wall.

Chris Davis made an error at first base, too.

We really looked bad in almost every aspect of the game last night, save for the offense, which scored 6 runs (and Gausman, who gets some extra slack because it was his first-ever major league start.)

[Hank Scorpio]

I saw very little of this game, but unfortunately I did see the 8th inning that included Hardy's error on a fairly routine grounder, and Wieters' passed ball that then led to Casilla's poor relay throw back to Wieters. Three lousy defensive plays before any outs were recorded in that inning.

I saw replays of McLouth's outstanding catch diving into the stands. I didn't see the Markakis play you referenced.

Between the errors and all the walks issued by the relievers, that was one of the ugliest games I have seen.

Absolutely - that one is up there with the loss in Oakland.

I stopped paying attention after Patton walked what's his face (worst offensive player in baseball.) Toronto's version of Cesar Izturis? Japanese guy?

[Frobby]

I didn't see last night's 10-6 win over the Jays. Any good/bad plays worthy of note?

[El Gordo]

I didn't see last night's 10-6 win over the Jays. Any good/bad plays worthy of note?

Manny made another brilliant play going after a high bouncer, tagging the bag at 3rd for the force, and throwing a bullet to Davis at, 1B who made a great tag of the runner, for the DP. It was a game saver. at that point. Manny also made a great stab of a wicked one hopper, that probably no other 3B besides Brooks could have handled.

[Frobby]

Manny made another brilliant play going after a high bouncer, tagging the bag at 3rd for the force, and throwing a bullet to Davis at, 1B who made a great tag of the runner, for the DP. It was a game saver. at that point. Manny also made a great stab of a wicked one hopper, that probably no other 3B besides Brooks could have handled.

Reading other threads, it seems Manny also made two really good plays chasing down balls in foul territory.

[Frobby]

May 25 (6-5 win over Toronto)

- Error by Navarro on a DP relay he probably shouldn't have tried.

- Leaping stab of a liner by Navarro, jarred loose when his glove hit the ground, but he recovered quickly and threw out the hitter.

- There was a play where Jones seemed to get a tentative jump on a ball to shallow CF, pulled up, then had to jump to keep the ball from bouncing over his head. I don't consider it a bad play, just a notable one.

- Nice running, sliding catch in LCF by McLouth.

- Nice snag of a one-hopper by Davis on the last batter Garcia faced.

- Poor throw by Garcia on a slow roller, scored an error, though the runner may have been out of the baseline.

- Nice play by Steve Johnson on a decent bunt, got to it quickly and got rid of an accurate throw.

[waroriole]

Reading other threads, it seems Manny also made two really good plays chasing down balls in foul territory.

Yep, one great over the shoulder catch that he made look easy.