The Defense Thread, 2019

[Frobby]

Game 10, April 8

So much to talk about tonight!

- In the first inning, Alberto made a diving stop in the hole and started a really well executed 5-4-3 DP.

- Second inning, Villar made a diving stop up the middle and threw to first for the out.  

- Third inning, Sucre fires a laser to 2B to nab a runner attempting to steal.

- There was a Bermuda Triangle bloop that fell in front of Mancini.   I didn’t see it but the game thread suggests Mancini should have been able to catch it.

- A foul pop near the tarp couldn’t be caught by Davis, who seemed to have gotten there.   He may have heard footsteps from Mancini.

- In the same at bat, Alberto made another diving stop but his throw bounced and Davis couldn’t handle a very tough backhand shorthop.    

- Sucre made another strong throw on a stolen base attempt but the ball got under Villar’s glove and the runner advanced.    Ruled an error on Sucre but it was Villar’s IMO.   First successful steal against the Orioles this year.

- Davis made a diving stab of a hard smash down the line and tossed to the pitcher for the out.   

- Villar made a diving stop behind 2B and made a backhanded flip to Martin for a force out.   

- Alberto made his third diving stop of the game and gunned to first for the out.  

That’s 10 notable plays in one game, and I may be forgetting one or two.   

[Legend_Of_Joey]

3 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Totally agree on the SB.  Strong throw. Villar should have caught it. The runner was out easily.

I wonder if they will review it and change it to an error on Villar? Last season, Wynns threw a ball down to Nunez on a steal of third and Nunez whiffed on the catch completely. The error went to Wynns until they reviewed it the next day and saw Nunez let it go by.

[Natty]

Yesterays game, Mullins somehow let an easy roller go right between his legs. Cost us a run. It's a play that little leaguers should make. Anyone else see this? Anyone have a video of this play?

[TGO]

4 hours ago, Natty said:

Yesterays game, Mullins somehow let an easy roller go right between his legs. Cost us a run. It's a play that little leaguers should make. Anyone else see this? Anyone have a video of this play?

I saw it. Turned a single into a triple and the next batter hit a sac fly. He looked like he almost hesitated going back to the wall to get it and I thought for a second it might be a HR.

[Going Underground]

2 hours ago, TGO said:

I saw it. Turned a single into a triple and the next batter hit a sac fly. He looked like he almost hesitated going back to the wall to get it and I thought for a second it might be a HR.

Hyde and Davis both said they did not play good defense yesterday .Some things were not errors but not good play overall. 

[Natty]

Yesterday Mullins misplayed a flyball off the CF wall and it got by him. Luckily Smith from LF backed him up...

[Frobby]

12 minutes ago, Natty said:

Yesterday Mullins misplayed a flyball off the CF wall and it got by him. Luckily Smith from LF backed him up...

He also made a pretty nice catch at the wall in RCF.   Nothing spectacular, but nice.   

Severino has a pretty egregious passed ball in the 8th inning but Givens bailed him out with a K on the next pitch.   

[mdbdotcom]

We've given up at least five runs in 12 of our 15 games. Would be nice if our pitchers would stop serving up so many long balls so we could see exactly how good the defense really is.

[Frobby]

Here’s a few early, probably meaningless SSS advanced metrics:

Mullins +3 Rtot, 0 Rdrs, -0.3 UZR

Severino +2 Rtot, +1 Rdrs

Smith +2 Rtot, -2 Rdrs, 1.5 UZR

Alberto +1 Rtot, +1 Rdrs, -0.8 UZR

Villar +1 Rtot, -3 Rdrs, 0.5 UZR

Davis 0 Rtot, -1 Rdrs. 0.1 UZR

Rickard 0 Rtot, + 2 Rdrs, -0.7 UZR

Ruiz 0 Rtot, -2 Rdrs, 0.6 UZR 

Sucre 0 Rtot, -1 Rdrs

Martin -1 Rtot, -2 Rdrs, -0.6 UZR

Mancini -3 Rtot, -2 Rdrs, -0.2 UZR

As you can see, no consistency at all among the advanced metrics in this small a sample.   But just for giggles:

Machado +2 Rtot, +5 Rdrs, 2.4 UZR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Natty]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

He also made a pretty nice catch at the wall in RCF.   Nothing spectacular, but nice.   

Severino has a pretty egregious passed ball in the 8th inning but Givens bailed him out with a K on the next pitch.   

Severino had two very good throws yesterday,  he gunned down Benintendi at second, and he almost got a runner at third on a pickoff throw. I believe it was Vasquez? 

[Frobby]

Game 16, April 14

- Means made a nice leaping grab of a chopper over his head and made an accurate throw to 1B.

- In the 6th with 2 outs and a runner on 1st, Richie Martin charged a slow hopper by Pedroia and threw 10 feet wide of 1B.    He had plenty of time, too.   Really egregious throwing error.

- In the 7th, Chris Davis made a nice grab of a sharp hopper to his backhand on the back lip of the infield, then fired a strike to Fry to beat the runner by a half step.   Good job by Fry too to hustle over and catch a throw coming in hot that almost handcuffed him.   

[Frobby]

Game 20, April 18

Didn’t start watching until the bottom of the 8th, and the notable plays I saw both came in the 11th.

- With nobody out, Rio Ruiz chased a foul pop down the left field line and deep into foul territory, making an over the shoulder catch very close to the bullpen pitching mounds for the first out.   

- With one out and a runner on, Cedric Mullins charged a sinking liner in LCF and made a diving catch for the out.    If that ball gets by him, the tying run probably would have scored.    Terrific play by Mullins.   

Nice to see the defense come through twice to protect a one-run lead in extra innings. 

[mdbdotcom]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Game 20, April 18

Didn’t start watching until the bottom of the 8th, and the notable plays I saw both came in the 11th.

- With nobody out, Rio Ruiz chased a foul pop down the left field line and deep into foul territory, making an over the shoulder catch very close to the bullpen pitching mounds for the first out.   

- With one out and a runner on, Cedric Mullins charged a sinking liner in LCF and made a diving catch for the out.    If that ball gets by him, the tying run probably would have scored.    Terrific play by Mullins.   

Nice to see the defense come through twice to protect a one-run lead in extra innings. 

We might not have lost the lead if you hadn't started watching. Ever think of that?

 

[Frobby]

Just now, mdbdotcom said:

We might not have lost the lead if you hadn't started watching. Ever think of that?

 

True!   Though they’d already coughed up 2 runs to make it 5-4 before I turned it on.  

[Frobby]

13 hours ago, Frobby said:

- With one out and a runner on, Cedric Mullins charged a sinking liner in LCF and made a diving catch for the out.    If that ball gets by him, the tying run probably would have scored.    Terrific play by Mullins.   

Statcast rated this a four-star catch.