The Defense Thread, 2017

[spiritof66]

44 minutes ago, Frobby said:

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

Only guys who are pretty fast steal freely against Asher. Pretty much everybody steals freely against Ubaldo. ("Pretty much everybody" does not include Matt Wieters.)

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, spiritof66 said:

Only guys who are pretty fast steal freely against Asher. Pretty much everybody steals freely against Ubaldo. ("Pretty much everybody" does not include Matt Wieters.)

Fun fact, Wieters has an 80% success rate stealing bases (8 for 10)

[spiritof66]

31 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Fun fact, Wieters has an 80% success rate stealing bases (8 for 10)

Back end of double steals?

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

Back end of double steals?

From what I recall it was mostly him catching the defense napping.  Don't quote me on it.

[Nevermore]

Most of the team played defense like they couldn't care less. 

[Going Underground]

8 hours ago, Nevermore said:

Most of the team played defense like they couldn't care less. 

I have been to some games and watched some on TV. Seems like the outfielders miss the cut off man many times. Smith seems to do it the most. Hopefully this gets better as the year goes on.

[spiritof66]

Tejada is a SS. He's not really a third baseman. Unlike Flaherty, he hasn't spent years learning to play a variety of positions.  He will catch ground balls and get them to first, will have some range, and should field the position a lot better than Davis. But there will be some adventures if he has to play much 3B. That looks unlikely right now, but we'll see. 

[Frobby]

I could use some specifics of what happened last night.    I didn't see the first inning and part of the second inning.    I read that there was a ball hit to 3B that Davis didn't handle that some thought Manny would have made, and that there was an attempted 3-6-1 DP where Asher was slow to cover 1B and Hardy threw behind him (the initial throw by Trumbo also was not in a good spot for Hardy to make the turn).     And, I know that Asher allowed a couple of stolen bases before I started watching (I did see the second inning double steal, which was completely on Asher for not making any effort to keep the runners in the same zip code as the base).     Overall, with backups at 3 defensive positions (1B, 3B, CF) (4 if you want to call Caleb a backup), it wasn't the best set-up for a good defensive game, and Asher certainly didn't help himself.    

[bobmc]

18 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I could use some specifics of what happened last night.    I didn't see the first inning and part of the second inning.    I read that there was a ball hit to 3B that Davis didn't handle that some thought Manny would have made, and that there was an attempted 3-6-1 DP where Asher was slow to cover 1B and Hardy threw behind him (the initial throw by Trumbo also was not in a good spot for Hardy to make the turn).     And, I know that Asher allowed a couple of stolen bases before I started watching (I did see the second inning double steal, which was completely on Asher for not making any effort to keep the runners in the same zip code as the base).     Overall, with backups at 3 defensive positions (1B, 3B, CF) (4 if you want to call Caleb a backup), it wasn't the best set-up for a good defensive game, and Asher certainly didn't help himself.    

I wish Trea Turner was our SS for the near future ;-).

 Schoopie looked in a trance out there, he dropped ball on the double play turn, let a single go under his glove hit by Turner, dropped a relay from Seth Smith behind first with a chance to get runner at home on the double.  Davis let a scorcher go by him hit by Drew the other way but it was in the 5/6 hole and he had to dive.  Manny might have made the spectacular play but tough with Drew running from left side.  The Asher DP above mentioned was pretty much as you described - Asher was late but Hardy's throw was behind him.  A good throw gets the runner IMO.  Asher not real athletic IMO.

This was one of the worst games to watch this year again IMO.  We were listless, almost playing as if it were ST and moving on to NYC.

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, bobmc said:

I wish Trea Turner was our SS for the near future ;-).

I love that kid.    He's a golden nugget.   

[Going Underground]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

I could use some specifics of what happened last night.    I didn't see the first inning and part of the second inning.    I read that there was a ball hit to 3B that Davis didn't handle that some thought Manny would have made, and that there was an attempted 3-6-1 DP where Asher was slow to cover 1B and Hardy threw behind him (the initial throw by Trumbo also was not in a good spot for Hardy to make the turn).     And, I know that Asher allowed a couple of stolen bases before I started watching (I did see the second inning double steal, which was completely on Asher for not making any effort to keep the runners in the same zip code as the base).     Overall, with backups at 3 defensive positions (1B, 3B, CF) (4 if you want to call Caleb a backup), it wasn't the best set-up for a good defensive game, and Asher certainly didn't help himself.    

Nationals were also playing mostly backups. Zimmerman,Murphy and Rendon did not play. Werth and Eaton are on the DL. Nationals had to fly home from LA. They rested some of their regulars. The Orioles played like they did not want to be in DC.

[Frobby]

32 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

Nationals were also playing mostly backups. Zimmerman,Murphy and Rendon did not play. Werth and Eaton are on the DL. Nationals had to fly home from LA. They rested some of their regulars. The Orioles played like they did not want to be in DC.

I'm aware of that, and not making excuses for losing.    But it does partially explain why the defense wasn't at its best.     Especially at 3B, where Davis hasn't played in several years (and wasn't very good when he did play there).

[Going Underground]

54 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I'm aware of that, and not making excuses for losing.    But it does partially explain why the defense wasn't at its best.     Especially at 3B, where Davis hasn't played in several years (and wasn't very good when he did play there).

I agree with you. Trumbo also looked shaky. They say he is a pretty good first baseman but have not seen enough of him.I was listening to both MASN feeds and the Nats broadcasters said Davis is an average or a little below average first baseman. Don't agree with them but most things they say are annoying.

[Frobby]

10 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

I agree with you. Trumbo also looked shaky. They say he is a pretty good first baseman but have not seen enough of him.I was listening to both MASN feeds and the Nats broadcasters said Davis is an average or a little below average first baseman. Don't agree with them but most things they say are annoying.

Well, if all you did was look at career metrics, you might reach that conclusion.    But I think most people who've watched Davis regularly over the last 2-3 years would say he's well above average.    I do think some people here overrate him, but he's very good.   

[Frobby]

Game 67, June 16

I've missed watching a lot of games lately, so it's been a while since I've posted in this thread.    I didn't see yesterday's game either, but I did see a replay of Manny's ridiculous throw in the 8th inning, deep in foul territory, deep behind the bag, and at a very difficult body angle.    He threw it with Chinese mustard on it and beat the runner by a full step.     That play may have been in Manny's personal top ten.

On a sour note, Jonathan Schoop made his ninth error on the year.   That's the most errors he's ever had in a season, and we're only 67 games in.