The Defense Thread, 2017

[LA2]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Game 49, May 29

- Schoop started an excellent 4-6-3 DP in the first inning, fielding a ball a couple steps to his glove side, pivoting and making a strong throw to the bag, and Hardy made a great turn with a runner bearing down on him.   

- Rickard and Trumbo miscommunicated on a high fly ball, with Trumbo stepping in front to catch a ball that Rickard was camped in front of.    Due to the minor collision, the runner on 1st tagged up and went to 2nd.   

- The next play, a ball was hit in the 1B/2B hole and Davis made a diving try and deflected it into short CF.    The runner on 2B should have scored, but ignited the 3B coach and froze at 3B.    (He later scored anyway.)   I think Schoop could have fielded the ball if Davis hadn't tried for it.   

- Mancini made a perfect throw from fairly deep LF to  nab Gardner trying to advance to 3B on a fly out.    Great tag by Manny on the play, letting the ball travel right to the body to get the runner by a couple of inches.   

- There was a ball scorched towards the SS side of Manny on a hop, where Manny seemed a little slow to react and it got by him.   Not an error by any means, but a play Manny makes more than half the time.

- Schoop made another nice DP, charging a squibber, tagging Sanchez as he ran onto the infield grass, and making a strong sidearm throw to 1B from a tough angle that Davis did a good job to catch. 

- Trumbo made a sliding catch on a high fly to short RF, though it probably shouldn't have been necessary for him to slide but he got a bit of a late start.   

To freeze and ignite at the same time is quite a feat! 

[Frobby]

Game 50, May 30

- Mancini had a soft Sanchez fly ball fall in front of him that I think could have been caught if he'd gotten a decent jump and committed.

- There was a soft bloop that landed between Smith and Schoop, who was playing in the shallow OF in a shift.    It looked to me like Smith backed off when he saw Schoop going after it, but it should have been catchable for Smith.   

- Judge hit a liner over Smith's head in the gap where it seemed like Smith took a bad angle, though I'm not sure he could have caught it.   

- With a runner on 1st, Verrett fielded a comebacker and whirled and threw to 2B.   The throw shorthopped Schoop, bounced off the heel of his glove, deflected into his chest and fell to the ground, but Schoop somehow grabbed it off the ground and stuck his glove between the base and the sliding foot of the runner and held onto the ball even though he never really had it in the pocket.   The runner was called safe but was reversed on replay review.

- Davis leaped to catch a Gardner line drive and then tagged 1B to complete a DP.

- Castillo failed to catch a Tillman pitch that was a little high and was  scored a wild pitch, but most catchers catch that ball.   He had another pitch tick off his glove later in the game, but the runner didn't advance.   

- In the 8th, a grounder bounced off Davis' glove onto the infield grass.   Davis charged it and foolishly tried to flip it to a running Givens behind his back.    The ball got by Givens, but Holliday was unable to advance.     Could've been two errors on the same play.

- With a runner on 1st, Hicks hit a single and Smith made a strong throw cut off by Hardy, who caught Hicks in no man's land between 1st and 2nd.    Hardy ran him partway towards 1B and threw to a Davis, who saw that the runner on 3B had strayed too far towards home and ran right at him, eventually tagging the runner while Hicks advanced to 3B.

[Frobby]

Game 51, May 31

- I didn't see the first 6 innings, but the Yanks scored a run when Schoop bounced a DP relay throw and Davis couldn't handle it.

- Schoop did make a strong relay throw on another 6-4-3 DP.

- in the 8th, with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Davis made a diving stop of a hot smash and O!Day got over very quickly in plenty of time for a soft toss from Davis.   

That's all I saw.

[Frobby]

Game 52, June 1

- First play of the game, Jones made a leaping catch at the fence to take a homer away from a Betts.   He had time to get to the spot and plant for his jump, but still a nice catch.  

- Joseph had a pitch bounce off his glove but he jumped on it and threw out a runner who tried to take 2B on the play.   

- Schoop made a nice play charging a grounder up the middle  and throwing across his body for the out.   

- In Miley's last inning, a tailor made DP grounder was hit to Hardy, who relayed to Schoop, who had trouble getting the ball out of his glove and the runner was safe at 1B on the relay.   

- On the final play, the Panda hit a slow chopper, which Manny charged and fired a bit low and wide, but Davis made a good stretch and caught it just before it hit the ground.    Nice play on both ends.  

[ChuckS]

You got most of them. 

Davis threw the ball away on a play with Miley covering in the second or third inning.  Runner advanced to second and ended up scoring that inning. 

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

You got most of them. 

Davis threw the ball away on a play with Miley covering in the second or third inning.  Runner advanced to second and ended up scoring that inning. 

I read about it, but didn't see it.   Thanks for mentioning it.  

[Frobby]

9 hours ago, RZNJ said:

It would have been a routine play for Schoop had Davis known the defensive positioning and just gone to cover 1B.  Case of wandering too far.

He does that occasionally.    It sounded as if Miley was slow to get to 1B, too.   

[Frobby]

Game 56, June 6

- In the 2nd inning, runner on 1B, Manny charged a slow roller and threw wide to the home plate side of 1B.     The play was correctly scored a hit, and the batter did not advance, but the runner who had been headed to 2B advanced to 3B so Manny was charged with an error.    Gausman then allowed a single and a double and all runs were scored as earned.    

- In the 7th with nobody out, Caleb Joseph gunned down John Jaso trying to steal, and on the next play, Manny fielded a tricky hop to his backhand side and threw Cervelli out at 1B.   These plays were important because the next three batters reached base via a single, HBP and a walk.    With the bases loaded and Hart faltering, Schoop dove for a sharply hit ball in the 1B hole, came up with it and gunned to 1B to end the inning.    This could have been a huge inning for Pittsburgh, but the defense kept them scoreless.

- Hardy made a nice throw from deep in the hole to get McCutchen in the 10th.

[webbrick2010]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Game 56, June 6

- In the 2nd inning, runner on 1B, Manny charged a slow roller and threw wide to the home plate side of 1B.     The play was correctly scored a hit, and the batter did not advance, but the runner who had been headed to 2B advanced to 3B so Manny was charged with an error.    Gausman then allowed a single and a double and all runs were scored as earned.    

- In the 7th with nobody out, Caleb Joseph gunned down John Jaso trying to steal, and on the next play, Manny fielded a tricky hop to his backhand side and threw Cervelli out at 1B.   These plays were important because the next three batters reached base via a single, HBP and a walk.    With the bases loaded and Hart faltering, Schoop dove for a sharply hit ball in the 1B hole, came up with it and gunned to 1B to end the inning.    This could have been a huge inning for Pittsburgh, but the defense kept them scoreless.

- Hardy made a nice throw from deep in the hole to get McCutchen in the 10th.

- In the 9th with two outs and a runner on first, Adam Jones took a slight step in and then was unable to get back on a ball that just barely eluded him for a triple and an insurance run for the Pirates. Getting beat for an extra base hit with two outs in the 9th of a one run game is a baseball no no.

[Frobby]

41 minutes ago, webbrick2010 said:

- In the 9th with two outs and a runner on first, Adam Jones took a slight step in and then was unable to get back on a ball that just barely eluded him for a triple and an insurance run for the Pirates. Getting beat for an extra base hit with two outs in the 9th of a one run game is a baseball no no.

I couldn't really tell if Jones took a bad route on that ball or not.    But you may well be correct.    

[webbrick2010]

12 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I couldn't really tell if Jones took a bad route on that ball or not.    But you may well be correct.    

Doesn't really matter what his route was, you don't get beat to the gaps or have a ball hit over your head in that situation.

If it would have been a playoff game it would have been a much talked about and much dissected play.

[schittenden]

5 minutes ago, webbrick2010 said:

Doesn't really matter what his route was, you don't get beat to the gaps or have a ball hit over your head in that situation.

If it would have been a playoff game it would have been a much talked about and much dissected play.

I've watched the replay a half dozen times. I don't see him start in and his line to the ball looks pretty direct. It's easier said than done to cover ever square inch of the entire field. The ball was hit pretty hard and Jones ran full-on with his back to the ball. I'm not sure he could have played it much better. 

[webbrick2010]

17 minutes ago, schittenden said:

I've watched the replay a half dozen times. I don't see him start in and his line to the ball looks pretty direct. It's easier said than done to cover ever square inch of the entire field. The ball was hit pretty hard and Jones ran full-on with his back to the ball. I'm not sure he could have played it much better. 

Apparently one yard deeper would have resulted in a catch.

A single cannot beat you in that situation, only a ball over your head or in the gap scores a run.

If he gets burnt on June 6th in a game that Schoop bailed out the whole team, then will he get burnt on Oct 6th when it could cost them a playoff game?

In the good old Frank Robinson Kangaroo Court days he would have been given a penalty

[Camden_yardbird]

6/8.  I have been watching this game for 5 minutes.  It's 4 nothing, now 5 nothing.  The Orioles middle infielders did not even break for the bag on the double steal, which I now know we're the 3rd and 4th steals for the Nationals.

There are games when you see one team, not just beating, but out executing the other (Like the NBA finals, ) and just recognize a contender from a pretender.

[Frobby]

13 minutes ago, Camden_yardbird said:

6/8.  I have been watching this game for 5 minutes.  It's 4 nothing, now 5 nothing.  The Orioles middle infielders did not even break for the bag on the double steal, which I now know we're the 3rd and 4th steals for the Nationals.

There are games when you see one team, not just beating, but out executing the other (Like the NBA finals, ) and just recognize a contender from a pretender.

Now 5 stolen bases.    Looks like Asher and Ubaldo have something in common.