2023 Defense Thread

[InsideCoroner]

I thought Mullins had a fair chance at the Varsho leadoff triple but he Trumboed a bit in front of the wall and instead just stabbed his glove out. 

Santander had a bad game with the glove, but playing LF in Boston takes a lot of work. I think it was a mistake to just stick him out here figuring there’s less real estate to patrol.

[webbrick2010]

Folks are overreacting a bit.

Conditions were bad

Going forward IF defense will be good, OF defense may be a weakness

Really concerned with Mullins, If he doesn't catch balls that he should easily get to, like the triple in the first, than his weak arm really makes him a liability in CF. I'd be interested in how much his sprint speed has dropped over the last several years.

[NCRaven]

2 minutes ago, webbrick2010 said:

Folks are overreacting a bit.

Wait...what?!

[jdwilde1]

The outfield defense has cost the O’s at least 8, and maybe as many as 10 runs, in the first two games.  Some tough plays, some not so tough, and some Bad News Bears type mistakes.  The most unforgivable was Mckenna’s error.  Two hands?  I guess back up big-leaguers don’t need basic fundamentals. 

[ShoelesJoe]

Wondering how much impact the afternoon sun at Fenway had to do with our OF guys losing the ball these first two games. Obviously, this had nothing to do with the McKenna drop, but it appeared that on multiple occasions Mullins, Hays, and Santander had real problems tracking fly balls that should have been caught but instead went for extra bases. 

[JR Oriole]

Hopefully after a lifetime on Earth, the guys have learned how to cope with the sun.

[Frobby]

I was too depressed after Game 2 to fully catalog the various defensive plays, but now in the afterglow of a nice win, here’s what I saw the last 3 games.

Game 2, 9-8 loss to Red Sox

- McKenna made a nice diving catch in the LCF alley in the early innings.  

-Playing 2B, Urias made an excellent play charging a high hopper from Yoshida and threw off balance to beat Yoshida by a hair.

- Mullins made a poorly-timed jump on a high fly near the LF wall, when he probably could have taken one more step back before jumping and caught it.  Hays backed it up well and grabbed the carom with a one-handed lunge, but Duvall got a triple out of it anyway.  

- In the 8th, Hays completely misjudged a high fly to the RF corner, and ran to a spot near the foul line 10 feet short of where the ball landed.   He was fortunate that it bounced over the fence for a ground rule double.  

- In the 9th, McKenna dropped a routine fly ball that would have been the 27th out, one of the worst errors you’ll ever see considering both the game situation and the very low degree of difficulty of the catch.  Duvall followed with a 2-run walk-off homer.   

Second game in a row where all three outfielders made at least one bad play.

Game 3, 9-5 loss to the Red Sox

- In the first inning, a ball in the hole got under Urias’ glove.  Henderson was able to glove it on the OF grass but his throw was high and had no chance to get the runner.  

- In the same inning, Duvall hit a sharp grounder into the LF corner.   Vavra let it get past him on the ricochet, but it didn’t result in an extra base, as Duvall held up at 2B.

- Later, there was a routine pop up to SS where Vavra came in from LF and tried to call off Henderson, who was camped under it and had called it already.   Distracted, Hrnderson let the ball tick off his glove for an error.  

- Hays made an excellent diving catch coming in and towards the foul line in the 7th inning.

Game 4, 2-0 win over Texas

- In the 2nd inning, Henderson (3B) grabbed a grounder down the line, took time loading up to throw, and threw off line and too high to get Josh Jung.  It was scored a hit, correctly in my opinion because the speedy runner might have been safe anyway, but wasn’t Gunnar’s best effort.  

- In the 4th inning, Stowers went back to the wall on a ball hit almost directly over his head and made a nice off-balance jumping catch.  He may have made the play look tougher than it was by not tracking it too well at first, but it was still a tough play and a good catch.  

- Later, there was a pop fly to mid-LF down the line.  Henderson and Mateo both gave chase, but Stowers called them off loudly and early and they peeled off.   Pretty routine play but it stood in contrast to some of the miscommunications in earlier games, especially the Vavra-Henderson play.  

- By the same token, there was a liner between Stowers and Mullins that both chased and did not communicate well.  Stowers peeled off that the last second and Mullins stuck his arm out and made the catch, but it almost was a botched play.  

- Frazier made an excellent over the shoulder catch on a soft liner into short RF.  No way Odor makes that catch IMO.  Frazier tried to double up a runner at 1B, but the throw was wide and bounced, and had no real chance anyway.  

- Mountcastle had a diving stop in the hole, and tossed to Wells, who did a good job covering the bag quickly.  

- Mateo made several plays ranging to the 2B side of the bag.  He did make an error on one, dropping the ball and then throwing too high when he tried to recover.  

- There also was a hot smash that ricocheted off Henderson’s glove that Mateo picked up and got the runner with a strong throw.   

So, that’s 17 plays in the last three games where good or bad defense made a difference for the O’s.  Yesterday was more good than bad, with still a couple of hiccups.  

Did I forget anything?
 

[ChuckS]

Defense looked much better yesterday, despite the Mateo error. 

[Pickles]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I was too depressed after Game 2 to fully catalog the various defensive plays, but now in the afterglow of a nice win, here’s what I saw the last 3 games.

Game 2, 9-8 loss to Red Sox

- McKenna made a nice diving catch in the LCF alley in the early innings.  

-Playing 2B, Urias made an excellent play charging a high hopper from Yoshida and threw off balance to beat Yoshida by a hair.

- Mullins made a poorly-timed jump on a high fly near the LF wall, when he probably could have taken one more step back before jumping and caught it.  Hays backed it up well and grabbed the carom with a one-handed lunge, but Duvall got a triple out of it anyway.  

- In the 8th, Hays completely misjudged a high fly to the RF corner, and ran to a spot near the foul line 10 feet short of where the ball landed.   He was fortunate that it bounced over the fence for a ground rule double.  

- In the 9th, McKenna dropped a routine fly ball that would have been the 27th out, one of the worst errors you’ll ever see considering both the game situation and the very low degree of difficulty of the catch.  Duvall followed with a 2-run walk-off homer.   

Second game in a row where all three outfielders made at least one bad play.

Game 3, 9-5 loss to the Red Sox

- In the first inning, a ball in the hole got under Urias’ glove.  Henderson was able to glove it on the OF grass but his throw was high and had no chance to get the runner.  

- In the same inning, Duvall hit a sharp grounder into the LF corner.   Vavra let it get past him on the ricochet, but it didn’t result in an extra base, as Duvall held up at 2B.

- Later, there was a routine pop up to SS where Vavra came in from LF and tried to call off Henderson, who was camped under it and had called it already.   Distracted, Hrnderson let the ball tick off his glove for an error.  

- Hays made an excellent diving catch coming in and towards the foul line in the 7th inning.

Game 4, 2-0 win over Texas

- In the 2nd inning, Henderson (3B) grabbed a grounder down the line, took time loading up to throw, and threw off line and too high to get Josh Jung.  It was scored a hit, correctly in my opinion because the speedy runner might have been safe anyway, but wasn’t Gunnar’s best effort.  

- In the 4th inning, Stowers went back to the wall on a ball hit almost directly over his head and made a nice off-balance jumping catch.  He may have made the play look tougher than it was by not tracking it too well at first, but it was still a tough play and a good catch.  

- Later, there was a pop fly to mid-LF down the line.  Henderson and Mateo both gave chase, but Stowers called them off loudly and early and they peeled off.   Pretty routine play but it stood in contrast to some of the miscommunications in earlier games, especially the Vavra-Henderson play.  

- By the same token, there was a liner between Stowers and Mullins that both chased and did not communicate well.  Stowers peeled off that the last second and Mullins stuck his arm out and made the catch, but it almost was a botched play.  

- Frazier made an excellent over the shoulder catch on a soft liner into short RF.  No way Odor makes that catch IMO.  Frazier tried to double up a runner at 1B, but the throw was wide and bounced, and had no real chance anyway.  

- Mountcastle had a diving stop in the hole, and tossed to Wells, who did a good job covering the bag quickly.  

- Mateo made several plays ranging to the 2B side of the bag.  He did make an error on one, dropping the ball and then throwing too high when he tried to recover.  

- There also was a hot smash that ricocheted off Henderson’s glove that Mateo picked up and got the runner with a strong throw.   

So, that’s 17 plays in the last three games where good or bad defense made a difference for the O’s.  Yesterday was more good than bad, with still a couple of hiccups.  

Did I forget anything?
 

I'd add that Frazier made a nice play on a very hard hit grounder that took a huge hop and he had to field it over his head.  That was a nice play.

[now]

16 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I was too depressed after Game 2 to fully catalog the various defensive plays, but now in the afterglow of a nice win, here’s what I saw the last 3 games.

Game 2, 9-8 loss to Red Sox

- McKenna made a nice diving catch in the LCF alley in the early innings.  

-Playing 2B, Urias made an excellent play charging a high hopper from Yoshida and threw off balance to beat Yoshida by a hair.

- Mullins made a poorly-timed jump on a high fly near the LF wall, when he probably could have taken one more step back before jumping and caught it.  Hays backed it up well and grabbed the carom with a one-handed lunge, but Duvall got a triple out of it anyway.  

- In the 8th, Hays completely misjudged a high fly to the RF corner, and ran to a spot near the foul line 10 feet short of where the ball landed.   He was fortunate that it bounced over the fence for a ground rule double.  

- In the 9th, McKenna dropped a routine fly ball that would have been the 27th out, one of the worst errors you’ll ever see considering both the game situation and the very low degree of difficulty of the catch.  Duvall followed with a 2-run walk-off homer.   

Second game in a row where all three outfielders made at least one bad play.

Game 3, 9-5 loss to the Red Sox

- In the first inning, a ball in the hole got under Urias’ glove.  Henderson was able to glove it on the OF grass but his throw was high and had no chance to get the runner.  

- In the same inning, Duvall hit a sharp grounder into the LF corner.   Vavra let it get past him on the ricochet, but it didn’t result in an extra base, as Duvall held up at 2B.

- Later, there was a routine pop up to SS where Vavra came in from LF and tried to call off Henderson, who was camped under it and had called it already.   Distracted, Hrnderson let the ball tick off his glove for an error.  

- Hays made an excellent diving catch coming in and towards the foul line in the 7th inning.

Game 4, 2-0 win over Texas

- In the 2nd inning, Henderson (3B) grabbed a grounder down the line, took time loading up to throw, and threw off line and too high to get Josh Jung.  It was scored a hit, correctly in my opinion because the speedy runner might have been safe anyway, but wasn’t Gunnar’s best effort.  

- In the 4th inning, Stowers went back to the wall on a ball hit almost directly over his head and made a nice off-balance jumping catch.  He may have made the play look tougher than it was by not tracking it too well at first, but it was still a tough play and a good catch.  

- Later, there was a pop fly to mid-LF down the line.  Henderson and Mateo both gave chase, but Stowers called them off loudly and early and they peeled off.   Pretty routine play but it stood in contrast to some of the miscommunications in earlier games, especially the Vavra-Henderson play.  

- By the same token, there was a liner between Stowers and Mullins that both chased and did not communicate well.  Stowers peeled off that the last second and Mullins stuck his arm out and made the catch, but it almost was a botched play.  

- Frazier made an excellent over the shoulder catch on a soft liner into short RF.  No way Odor makes that catch IMO.  Frazier tried to double up a runner at 1B, but the throw was wide and bounced, and had no real chance anyway.  

- Mountcastle had a diving stop in the hole, and tossed to Wells, who did a good job covering the bag quickly.  

- Mateo made several plays ranging to the 2B side of the bag.  He did make an error on one, dropping the ball and then throwing too high when he tried to recover.  

- There also was a hot smash that ricocheted off Henderson’s glove that Mateo picked up and got the runner with a strong throw.   

So, that’s 17 plays in the last three games where good or bad defense made a difference for the O’s.  Yesterday was more good than bad, with still a couple of hiccups.  

Did I forget anything?
 

Amazing that you remembered or researched all the above. 

The disgraceful outfield defense exposes miscommunication as the unfortunate side effect of having so much touted "flexibility."

[Frobby]

42 minutes ago, now said:

Amazing that you remembered or researched all the above. 

The disgraceful outfield defense exposes miscommunication as the unfortunate side effect of having so much touted "flexibility."

Could be.  Hopefully it gets better as gsmes progress, but we’ll see.  

[Frobby]

Game 5, 7-2 win over Texas

This was our cleanest defensive game so far this year, as we didn’t give Texas any extra outs tonight.   The O’s turned two slick DPs, one 6-4-3 and one 4-6-3.  Urias made two consecutive nice plays at 3B, first grabbing a short hop and getting a force at 2B, then fielding a high chopper and getting the lead runner at 2B again.  Nothing else of note to report tonight.  

[IPlayGM]

The version of Gibson we saw last night benefits the defense…balls in play quickly all night. I know this isn’t his thread, but really impressed with his ability to throw ground balls. That pairs well with our team.

[Frobby]

I didn’t see the series finale in Texas.  Anything notable on the defensive side, good or bad?  I see that Henderson made a throwing error.  

[RZNJ]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I didn’t see the series finale in Texas.  Anything notable on the defensive side, good or bad?  I see that Henderson made a throwing error.  

Henderson making a throw on a slow roller where he had NO chance to get the runner.   Should have eaten it.   Mountcastle probably wouldn't have been able to double up Corey Seager who runs pretty well but he got a one hopper and throw a lame duck one hopper to Mateo which took away any chance of the DP.