Manny on the basepath

[Es4M11]

Manny rounding the base paths.

That doesn't excuse these base running errors. They are just careless and costly mistakes that can and should be corrected - regardless of his other contributions.

[OFFNY]

o

I thought that it was a designed play, trying to allow Flaherty to score.

That's why Machado stopped about 4 steps short of 2nd base ...... he then turned around and headed back towards 1st, like he wasn't even trying to steal, but rather to draw a throw and stay in a rundown long enough for Flaherty to score from 3rd. And Flaherty did break for home plate while all of that was going on, but Machado was tagged out before Flaherty touched the plate.

If that was indeed a designed play, then I think that Machado made the mistake of looking over his shoulder too long as he was going back toward 1st base. I believe that if he had simply sprinted back toward 1st base instead running at 3/4 speed while simultaneously looking over his shoulder at the fielder who had the ball and was chasing him, he could have avoided being tagged out for another second and-a-half, and that may have made the difference between whether or not Flaherty was able to plate the run.

[El Gordo]

I have a tough time believing that micro manager that he is, Buck would let his guys have a free hand in a game situation. I have to think that was a called play.

[Catch 8]

I didn't see the rundown play, but I witnessed both failed steal attempts of third base with Davis up to end the inning. Rule is, if you go, be certain you are making it safely. Without knowing MM, my best guess is stat-padding. That said, at the high school and college levels, I love trying to take third base with two out, since so many more things can happen. But MLB is more theoretical -- wild pitches and throws into left field are pretty much assumed not to happen.

[duffaphonic]

Manny's beserunning blunders are inexcusable. And if that was a designed play it was dumb. Davis, your RBI leader from 2015 was at the plate. was this ever explained by either MM or Buck after the game?

[weams]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For fans asking: Machado wasn't trying to steal 2B last night with Flaherty on 3rd. Designed play to get run across before out is made</p>— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) <a href="

">May 11, 2016</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[jtschrei]

The first thing I would say to Manny is that we don't want you stealing bases. Period. Especially given his knee injury/-ies. Second, we don't want to take the bat out of Davis' hands. Done and done.

He'll learn. He's one of the best I've ever seen. When you're constantly compared to Trout and Harper, it's hard to not try to say, I want to be comparable to them. I want to be the best. And one of the things Trout and Harper do is steal bases. But Manny really shouldn't. He doesn't have the speed they do, a. And b., he's had a knee injury.

[Morgan423]

The first thing I would say to Manny is that we don't want you stealing bases. Period. Especially given his knee injury/-ies. Second, we don't want to take the bat out of Davis' hands. Done and done.

He'll learn. He's one of the best I've ever seen. When you're constantly compared to Trout and Harper, it's hard to not try to say, I want to be comparable to them. I want to be the best. And one of the things Trout and Harper do is steal bases. But Manny really shouldn't. He doesn't have the speed they do, a. And b., he's had a knee injury.

It's not necessarily that he's not blazing fast. And those injuries are not really impacting him anymore (as evidenced by his play in pretty much all other aspects). The issue with Manny's base running is that he isn't being smart about it.

Taking off to steal 3rd with 3 outs and a strong hitter up (like he's done two or three times this year already), or trying to advance second to third on a ground ball hit in front of him to shortstop... these are bad fundamental base running blunders that should not be regularly committed by a major league player. Like any player, he hurts the team when he makes super-preventable mistakes like this.

[Morgan423]

*2 outs and a strong hitter up...

[Il BuonO]

The first thing I would say to Manny is that we don't want you stealing bases. Period. Especially given his knee injury/-ies. Second, we don't want to take the bat out of Davis' hands. Done and done.

He'll learn. He's one of the best I've ever seen. When you're constantly compared to Trout and Harper, it's hard to not try to say, I want to be comparable to them. I want to be the best. And one of the things Trout and Harper do is steal bases. But Manny really shouldn't. He doesn't have the speed they do, a. And b., he's had a knee injury.

Manny isn't slow and his injuries were a congenital defect. It's not like they're arthritic. He's made some bad decisions running the bases and the added muscle may be slowing him down, but Harper and Trout do many other things better than steal bases. In fact, last year Manny was better than either of them. His percentage was 71% (20-28), Trout was 61% (11-17), and Harper was 60% (6-10). So, not only was he better, he was also more prolific.

However, I'd rather see him round the bases in a trot than watch him attempt a stolen base. Base running is the issue not stolen bases.

[OFFNY]

o

I thought that it was a designed play, trying to allow Flaherty to score.

That's why Machado stopped about 4 steps short of 2nd base ...... he then turned around and headed back towards 1st, like he wasn't even trying to steal, but rather to draw a throw and stay in a rundown long enough for Flaherty to score from 3rd. And Flaherty did break for home plate while all of that was going on, but Machado was tagged out before Flaherty touched the plate.

If that was indeed a designed play, then I think that Machado made the mistake of looking over his shoulder too long as he was going back toward 1st base. I believe that if he had simply sprinted back toward 1st base instead running at 3/4 speed while simultaneously looking over his shoulder at the fielder who had the ball and was chasing him, he could have avoided being tagged out for another second and-a-half, and that may have made the difference between whether or not Flaherty was able to plate the run.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For fans asking: Machado wasn't trying to steal 2B last night with Flaherty on 3rd. Designed play to get run across before out is made</p>— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) <a href="

">May 11, 2016</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Thanks, weams.

That's what I figured.

[Aristotelian]

o

I thought that it was a designed play, trying to allow Flaherty to score.

That's why Machado stopped about 4 steps short of 2nd base ...... he then turned around and headed back towards 1st, like he wasn't even trying to steal, but rather to draw a throw and stay in a rundown long enough for Flaherty to score from 3rd. And Flaherty did break for home plate while all of that was going on, but Machado was tagged out before Flaherty touched the plate.

If that was indeed a designed play, then I think that Machado made the mistake of looking over his shoulder too long as he was going back toward 1st base. I believe that if he had simply sprinted back toward 1st base instead running at 3/4 speed while simultaneously looking over his shoulder at the fielder who had the ball and was chasing him, he could have avoided being tagged out for another second and-a-half, and that may have made the difference between whether or not Flaherty was able to plate the run.

I think that is right, and even the part about looking back over his should can be explained. Manny has no way of knowing if the fielder is holding the ball or throwing to first. If the fielder throws it, Manny will need to put on the brakes and give Flaherty an extra second before the tag is made. If it is a designed play as has been reported, the result is 100% on Buck. That does not excuse the previous outs at third base, however.

[weams]

I think that is right, and even the part about looking back over his should can be explained. Manny has no way of knowing if the fielder is holding the ball or throwing to first. If the fielder throws it, Manny will need to put on the brakes and give Flaherty an extra second before the tag is made. If it is a designed play as has been reported, the result is 100% on Buck. That does not excuse the previous outs at third base, however.

Spot on. Thanks.

[OFFNY]

o

I thought that it was a designed play, trying to allow Flaherty to score.

That's why Machado stopped about 4 steps short of 2nd base ...... he then turned around and headed back towards 1st, like he wasn't even trying to steal, but rather to draw a throw and stay in a rundown long enough for Flaherty to score from 3rd. And Flaherty did break for home plate while all of that was going on, but Machado was tagged out before Flaherty touched the plate.

If that was indeed a designed play, then I think that Machado made the mistake of looking over his shoulder too long as he was going back toward 1st base. I believe that if he had simply sprinted back toward 1st base instead running at 3/4 speed while simultaneously looking over his shoulder at the fielder who had the ball and was chasing him, he could have avoided being tagged out for another second and-a-half, and that may have made the difference between whether or not Flaherty was able to plate the run.

I think that is right, and even the part about looking back over his should can be explained. Manny has no way of knowing if the fielder is holding the ball or throwing to first. If the fielder throws it, Manny will need to put on the brakes and give Flaherty an extra second before the tag is made. If it is a designed play as has been reported, the result is 100% on Buck. That does not excuse the previous outs at third base, however.

In watching the play, I still believe that he erred, albeit slightly. I think that he continued looking a little longer than he needed to. The 1st baseman was at the bag, and I think he could have done a little better than he did had he turned a little sooner and ran faster, as I suggested.

No matter, though. It's an unusual play, it's not really fair to necessarily expect him to execute it in an exemplary manner. In hindsight, my comment should be more of an observation of a better possibility than a critique of Machado.