The Defense Thread, 2024

[Frobby]

Post here any time you see a notable play, good or bad.  

Game 1, March 28

The only notable play in this game, IMO, was Mateo’s rushed throw on a DP pivot that bounced past  Mountcastle and allowed two runs to score.  Poor throw and it looked like a ball Mounty might have picked, though by no means an easy one.  Most of the blame goes to Mateo.

I also thought Adley had an excellent day framing, noticeably better than his counterpart Ryan O’Hoppe.

 

[Billy F-Face3]

Mateo also dropped the ball when Hays threw from LF to try to gun down that overly aggressive runner. He would have probably been out if Mateo didn't drop it.

[Frobby]

Game 2, March 30

i only saw a few innings of this one.  I’ve seen a replay of the botched 3-1 play in the 9th where Baumann booted Mountcastle’s toss.  

In the 2nd inning, Mountcastle picked a 101.3 mph short-hop liner and a started a 3-6-3 DP.

In the 5th inning, Urias made a nice backhand grab of a  head-high 109.2 mph liner by Michael Sano that was headed to the LF corner.  

Anything interesting that I missed?

 

[Say O!]

5 hours ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

Mateo also dropped the ball when Hays threw from LF to try to gun down that overly aggressive runner. He would have probably been out if Mateo didn't drop it.

Ehh, I think runner was safe either way.

and just because he seems to get disproportionate scrutiny, I thought there were two other plays which Mateo made look routine (but were not).  He caught pop fly down RF line (where was Santa?) made more difficult by the swirling wind. Mateo also charged a ball in the 1B hole and made timely toss to Mounty who had to sprint back to bag.  Both plays notable for a guy not ordinarily a second baseman.

Edited March 31 by Say O!

[Say O!]

23 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Game 2, March 30

i only saw a few innings of this one.  I’ve seen a replay of the botched 3-1 play in the 9th where Baumann booted Mountcastle’s toss.  

In the 2nd inning, Mountcastle picked a 101.3 mph short-hop liner and a started a 3-6-3 DP.

In the 5th inning, Urias made a nice backhand grab of a  head-high 109.2 mph liner by Michael Sano that was headed to the LF corner.  

Anything interesting that I missed?

 

I thought Hays had two nice plays today, one where he raced down and caught a liner in the LCF gap.  The second where he cut off potential double down the LF line and rifled throw back to 2B holding the Angel player (Sano?) to a single.  Hays defense in LF at OP@CY is under appreciated.

Edited March 31 by Say O!

[yark14]

26 minutes ago, Frobby said:

In the 5th inning, Urias made a nice backhand grab of a  head-high 109.2 mph liner by Michael Sano that was headed to the LF corner. 
 

Very few people on the planet have the reaction time to make that play.  I've been vocal about my opinion of the prospects getting playing time over Urias, but have to call out that incredible play.

[Billy F-Face3]

13 minutes ago, Say O! said:

Mateo also charged a ball in the 1B hole and made timely toss to Mounty who had to sprint back to bag.

Yes that play comes to mind from the positive side of things on opening day. Mateo's speed is an asset especially when 1st Basmen has to cover 1st Base.

As for today's game, Game 2 of the opening Angels series, I think Frobby covered most of it.

I saw some very good outfield plays when they ran down some fly balls. Santander had a good one early at the wall and Hays had a couple. One wa a foul he almost missed but recovered to catch it at the last second. Hays also had a couple plays where his arm was on full display to dissuade runners from trying to take an extra base.

There was also a play that was hit on a rope between 2B and the SS where it looked like it surprised Cedric and he either took a bad angle, or didn't go hard enough because it totally got by him and rolled to the wall, allowing the hitter to get a triple. It seemed like the speed of which the ball was hit surprised him.  He didn't run very hard at a good angle in pursuit.

Cedric just looked tired today. Hopefully he feels better tomorrow if he was. I hope he monitors his nutrition closely to make sure his electrolyte balance is good to prevent cramps &  strains.

[Billy F-Face3]

3 minutes ago, yark14 said:

Very few people on the planet have the reaction time to make that play.  I've been vocal about my opinion of the prospects getting playing time over Urias, but have to call out that incredible play.

Good call on the Urias play. Urias had a few very nice smooth defensive plays at 3rd Base.

[interloper]

33 minutes ago, yark14 said:

Very few people on the planet have the reaction time to make that play.  I've been vocal about my opinion of the prospects getting playing time over Urias, but have to call out that incredible play.

It's nice to have Ramon the security blanket on the team. If there's a trade eventually, great, but until then it's nice to not even have to worry about hot corner defense. 

[spleen1015]

Gunnar..... duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!

Back to back plays in the top of the 3rd. Second play was noice!

[Sports Guy]

Early candidate for play of the year by Gunnar there

[spleen1015]

 

[Say O!]

5 minutes ago, spleen1015 said:

 

Wow….Would love to know the velo on that throw.

said this in the game thread, but that play (deep in the hole) is why Gunnar is gonna stay at SS.  Well that and his elite ability with turning double plays.

[Say O!]

41 minutes ago, Say O! said:

Wow….Would love to know the velo on that throw.

said this in the game thread, but that play (deep in the hole) is why Gunnar is gonna stay at SS.  Well that and his elite ability with turning double plays.

And in 7th inning, he turned one of those double plays with rocket arm. Gunning for the gold glove this year

[Frobby]

Game 3,  March 31

Gunnar made two great plays back to back in the 3rd inning, the second of which was captured in the posts above.  The first was a slightly easier play.

Unfortunately, the second inning was marred by two bad plays involving McCann.  On the first, the batter hit a squibber in front of the plate which McCann fielded and had to whirl and throw, and his throw pulled Mountcastle off the bag.  I was sitting behind 1B and couldn’t tell if Mounty could have made a better stretch to keep in contact with the bag. 

Later in the inning, McCann tried to pick a runner off 3B, but his throw hit the runner and trickled into LF, allowing that runner to score and another to advance to 3B.  

Mateo made a pretty nice play charging a chopper and throwing across his body for an out.  And he started a 4-6-3 DP ranging to the 1B side and making a nice feed to Gunnar, who made a strong throw.  Nicely done by both of them.