Should Mountcastle have had it?

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Aristotelian said:

He should not come off the bag to block it because the throw is beating the runner and it is nowhere near bad enough to justify conceding the play. The throw isn't great but I'd like my 1B to believe he can make that pick and go for it. 

Well I'd like my 1B to know his limitations and if he has any hesitation that he's going to botch a pick attempt to make sure that he doesn't make a potentially bad play worse.  

RMC should have known.  I mean, he was falling all over the place.  Maybe in this case he couldn't have actually blocked it since he was, IIRC, already falling over when the ball arrived but it was his fault that he put himself in a bad position to a) make a pick in the first place and b) block the ball if he couldn't make a pick.

[Aristotelian]

39 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Well I'd like my 1B to know his limitations and if he has any hesitation that he's going to botch a pick attempt to make sure that he doesn't make a potentially bad play worse.  

RMC should have known.  I mean, he was falling all over the place.  Maybe in this case he couldn't have actually blocked it since he was, IIRC, already falling over when the ball arrived but it was his fault that he put himself in a bad position to a) make a pick in the first place and b) block the ball if he couldn't make a pick.

I don't think any MLB level 1B should come off the bag for that play. It is possible Mountcastle is not a MLB level 1B but I like to think that he is.

[Moose Milligan]

22 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I don't think any MLB level 1B should come off the bag for that play. It is possible Mountcastle is not a MLB level 1B but I like to think that he is.

We kind of agree.  

[O-The-Memories]

I get what both of you are saying, and I don't think they are mutually exclusive. If Mountcastle had the thought of "wow, I can't get to this one" than yes, he should have come off the bag to prevent the bad outcome that happened. But I don't think he consciously thought he couldn't scoop that throw, and it really was just one of those fluke plays. He should have grabed it, but Urias should have made a better throw. It just wasn't good defense all around last night. 

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, O-The-Memories said:

I get what both of you are saying, and I don't think they are mutually exclusive. If Mountcastle had the thought of "wow, I can't get to this one" than yes, he should have come off the bag to prevent the bad outcome that happened. But I don't think he consciously thought he couldn't scoop that throw, and it really was just one of those fluke plays. He should have grabed it, but Urias should have made a better throw. It just wasn't good defense all around last night. 

I’d say the throw was worse than the scoop, because Urias had plenty of time to make a good throw.  Maybe too much time.  Mountcastle’s was a reaction play and he didn’t react well.

[Sports Guy]

Easily, yes.

 

[MCO'sFan]

I don’t think Mountcastle sets up well and I really don’t like how he tries to scoop. He is very aggressive with his glove and to me, when a player does that he is creating hard hands and either fields it cleanly or literally knocks the ball away. 

[Pickles]

So Mountcastle missed a ball tonight that I believe was easier than the ball last night.

He's a big man.  He plays small around the bag.

 

[Pickles]

Look at the replayed play at 1st in the 6th.  He's not stretching ideally.  

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

Look at the replayed play at 1st in the 6th.  He's not stretching ideally.  

Mountcastle looks rigid when fielding the ball at 1B. 

[Pickles]

2 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Mountcastle looks rigid when fielding the ball at 1B. 

I should be clear that my two post above were referencing two separate plays.

I'm not going to go crazy about it.  But he needs to improve defensively, even at first base, as a long-term piece.