Jonathan Villar- Our new 2B?

[99ct]

35 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

I heard on the radio the other day that Lester's really taken that aspect of the game to heart.  He used to be among the worst in holding runners on base, and he's worked hard every year to improve at it.  And it definitely helps having a better throwing catcher now. 

I think there will be a competitive advantage to the team(s) that make a concerted effort to run a lot.  Otoh, if other teams put more emphasis to stop the running game, it'll likely lessen the benefit.

  

Last time I saw him, he still had that huge mental block preventing him from throwing to 1B. One of the weirdest things in baseball lol...

[LA2]

Just now, 99ct said:

Last time I saw him, he still had that huge mental block preventing him from throwing to 1B. One of the weirdest things in baseball lol...

Yes, of all pitchers to have the Yips, such a competitor. Well, Steve Blass was too. And Ankiel.

[VaBird1]

2 hours ago, LA2 said:

KC wd have never won the play-in game against Oakland that year without unleashing their running game in the 8th inning down 7-3 against Jon Lester and a catcher with a poor throw-out percentage (Derek Norris, 17% that year). Four stolen bases that inning (7 for the game!) were absolutely necessary to KC tying the score and knocking Lester out. Intelligent speed, stolen bases, wild pitches, walks, and sacrifice bunts stole the game from the A's.

A play-in game is to determine a regular season division champ.  They played in the Wild Card game which is a post season game.

[LA2]

1 hour ago, VaBird1 said:

A play-in game is to determine a regular season division champ.  They played in the Wild Card game which is a post season game.

Yes it was the WC game, but I always call it the Play-in anyway because, if it's baseball, it irks me to consider a single-game "series" as part of the post-season. I would rather they shortened the season (back to 154 games) and make the WC at least a 2-of-3 series. Or go back to the old WC set-up.

[VaBird1]

5 minutes ago, LA2 said:

Yes it was the WC game, but I always call it the Play-in anyway because, if it's baseball, it irks me to consider a single-game "series" as part of the post-season. I would rather they shortened the season (back to 154 games) and make the WC at least a 2-of-3 series. Or go back to the old WC set-up.

I understand.   I’d rather not see a second place team in the playoffs.  They clearly aren’t the best team in the league.

[LA2]

16 minutes ago, VaBird1 said:

I understand.   I’d rather not see a second place team in the playoffs.  They clearly aren’t the best team in the league.

Since there is so often a significant disparity in the quality of the three divisions that I'm not against a second-place team per se participating in the playoffs. But if one is going to be serious about that, why make a one-game playoff the test? It's against the nature of baseball--the trial of its very long season, the importance of a deep starting rotation, etc. So, as I said, I'd prefer either the old set-up (three first-place teams and one WC team) or a 2-of-3 series between the two WCs, but with the season shortened to 154 games.

[sportsfan8703]

2 hours ago, VaBird1 said:

I understand.   I’d rather not see a second place team in the playoffs.  They clearly aren’t the best team in the league.

Well what about a team like Tampa Bay that might be the 5th best team in baseball and not in the playoffs?  At least with a 2nd WC they had a chance. The 2nd WC benefits the AL East teams so much. Without that, it would make it much harder for us to make the playoffs ever 

[Ruzious]

22 hours ago, 99ct said:

Last time I saw him, he still had that huge mental block preventing him from throwing to 1B. One of the weirdest things in baseball lol...

Well, for whatevs the reasons, his numbers against baserunners have dramatically improved over the years.  

2015:  205 innings, 44 steals in 55 attempts, caught stealing %:  20.

2016:  202 innings, 28 steals in 41 attempts, cs%:  32.

2017:  181 innings, 19 steals in 31 attempts, cs%:  39.

2018:  158 innings, 11 steals in 18 attempts, cs%:  39.  

I'd conclude holding on runners is no longer a problem for him, and it helps to have a quality catcher.  .  

[weams]

On 9/6/2018 at 11:49 AM, Frobby said:

Why?   A pitcher has gone 1:1 17 times out of 53.    A pitcher has gone 1:7 30 times.    

Didn't you just say what I did?

[weams]

20 hours ago, LA2 said:

Yes it was the WC game, but I always call it the Play-in anyway because, if it's baseball, it irks me to consider a single-game "series" as part of the post-season. I would rather they shortened the season (back to 154 games) and make the WC at least a 2-of-3 series. Or go back to the old WC set-up.

Understood. But it is playoffs.

[Frobby]

On 9/6/2018 at 11:40 AM, weams said:

I also think it is easier to pick a position player at 1:7 than 1:1

 

On 9/6/2018 at 11:49 AM, Frobby said:

Why?   A pitcher has gone 1:1 17 times out of 53.    A pitcher has gone 1:7 30 times.    

 

12 minutes ago, weams said:

Didn't you just say what I did?

Not unless I misunderstood you.    Teams have chosen a position player at 1:1 more than 2/3 of the time, so I’d say it’s easy to pick a position player from that spot.

[weams]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 

 

Not unless I misunderstood you.    Teams have chosen a position player at 1:1 more than 2/3 of the time, so I’d say it’s easy to pick a position player from that spot.

Oh. Sure. I meant, if you want a pitcher, get one early.  Lots of hitters available at 1:7

[bobmc]

On 9/6/2018 at 10:06 AM, Ruzious said:

A player like Villar - who takes lots of chances - probably won't be nearly as effective on a team that doesn't run as he'd be on a team that has other players that can run.  That's why I think it's a good time to make the team's identity as a running team.  And it'll stop them from being boring as heck.  

Point well taken and Buck offered some commentary on stealing in relation to Villar, Mullins and even Rickard:

"Showalter spoke to Jonathan Villar about the ill-advised decision last night to break for third base with two outs in the first inning and Chris Davis, a left-handed hitter, at the plate. Villar was thrown out at third for the second time since joining the Orioles.

Villar referenced his mistake multiple times while talking to the media. He already knew that he messed up before his conversation with Showalter.

“He came up to Chris and then he came up to Bobby (Dickerson),” Showalter said. “It’s all about timing. There’s an element there that we need, but it has to be smart aggressiveness.”

Villar swiped second base twice later in the night and had a two-run single.

“I said, ‘You know what I like about you? You made a mistake that you know you made, but you get to first base four or five innings later and you don’t go into a shell and afraid to make mistakes and stole second base.’ That tells you about somebody a little bit. He knows what he’s good at,” Showalter said.

“He’s going to make some mistakes, but at 27 and a guy that stole 60 bases in the big leagues, if you start putting a complete muffler or a governor as we called it back home on him, then you’re taking away what he can bring."

 "I want Joey (Rickard) to be more of a risk-taker some. Sometimes, you can get too safe here. And professional athletes make mistakes when the game speeds up in any sport. That’s where they make their mistakes. And the really good players don’t. They slow the game down."

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/09/notes-on-rotation-impact-of-losing-mistakes-and-more.htmlhttp://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/09/notes-on-rotation-impact-of-losing-mistakes-and-more.html

From today's game:

"Leadoff hitter Cedric Mullins was thrown out attempting to steal while Joey Rickard ran the count to 3-1.

“That’s one of those learning curves,” Showalter said. “You’ve got a guy that’s missing up with the fastball, he’s 1.25 to the plate and that stolen base is probably not there. I’m going to let these guys run so they can learn from these things. That’s a bag we should probably stay there for.”

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/09/wrapping-up-an-8-3-loss-and-series-sweep.html

[LA2]

31 minutes ago, bobmc said:

Point well taken and Buck offered some commentary on stealing in relation to Villar, Mullins and even Rickard:

"Showalter spoke to Jonathan Villar about the ill-advised decision last night to break for third base with two outs in the first inning and Chris Davis, a left-handed hitter, at the plate. Villar was thrown out at third for the second time since joining the Orioles.

Villar referenced his mistake multiple times while talking to the media. He already knew that he messed up before his conversation with Showalter.

“He came up to Chris and then he came up to Bobby (Dickerson),” Showalter said. “It’s all about timing. There’s an element there that we need, but it has to be smart aggressiveness.”

Villar swiped second base twice later in the night and had a two-run single.

“I said, ‘You know what I like about you? You made a mistake that you know you made, but you get to first base four or five innings later and you don’t go into a shell and afraid to make mistakes and stole second base.’ That tells you about somebody a little bit. He knows what he’s good at,” Showalter said.

“He’s going to make some mistakes, but at 27 and a guy that stole 60 bases in the big leagues, if you start putting a complete muffler or a governor as we called it back home on him, then you’re taking away what he can bring."

 "I want Joey (Rickard) to be more of a risk-taker some. Sometimes, you can get too safe here. And professional athletes make mistakes when the game speeds up in any sport. That’s where they make their mistakes. And the really good players don’t. They slow the game down."

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/09/notes-on-rotation-impact-of-losing-mistakes-and-more.htmlhttp://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/09/notes-on-rotation-impact-of-losing-mistakes-and-more.html

From today's game:

"Leadoff hitter Cedric Mullins was thrown out attempting to steal while Joey Rickard ran the count to 3-1.

“That’s one of those learning curves,” Showalter said. “You’ve got a guy that’s missing up with the fastball, he’s 1.25 to the plate and that stolen base is probably not there. I’m going to let these guys run so they can learn from these things. That’s a bag we should probably stay there for.”

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/09/wrapping-up-an-8-3-loss-and-series-sweep.html

Sounds good to me.

[OFFNY]

o

 

(vs. ATHLETICS, 9/11)

 

Villar had the only 2 RBI's of the game for the Orioles tonight, including his 13th Home Run of the season (7 as an Oriole.)

The solo shot came in the  bottom of the 6th, and his RBI-single in the bottom of the 8th came with 2 outs to draw the Orioles to within a run of the Athletics (3-2.)

 

o