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Jun1Esky's defense makes Billy a game-winner
Lee Judge
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“His runs are in his glove.” That’s how Ned Yost described Alcides Escobar’s contribution to the Royals’ offense. Ned said he didn’t care if Escobar hit .100. What he’s doing on defense more than makes up for any offensive shortcomings (and Ned thinks Alcides eventually will hit). Apparently, someone yelled that Ned should get a hitter in there when Alcides went to the plate in the eighth inning and Ned wondered what game the fan was watching.
Ned said that If Escobar saves you four runs on defense (and that’s how many runs Ned thought he saved in this game), it’s the same as driving in four. Fans can go a long ways toward thinking about the game the way professionals do if they adopt this attitude. Get hits or rob hits. Drive in runs or stop runs. It’s all the same. If all you think about is offense, you’re missing half the game.
Billy Butler’s home run was dramatic, but it wouldn’t have mattered without Alcides’ defense.
The 3 in the 6-3
The assistant in Alicides’ magic act is Eric Hosmer. Esky told me he has so much confidence in Hosmer’s glove that he throws from any angle, knowing Eric will help him out. Chris Getz told me Eric’s range changes where he can play, because he can cover a lot of ground. Like I’ve said, a first baseman can make everyone on the infield better or worse, and Eric’s making everyone better.
The Coors effect
Felipe Paulino looked great again. Just remember that the somewhat ugly numbers he had put up came at Coors Field, a ballpark that can make any pitcher look mediocre.
I’m Frenchy’s sponsor
As I mentioned yesterday, Jeff Francoeur thinks he’s been a little pull-happy and wants to lay off the inside pitch. Jeff wants to wait for something out over the plate. After Tuesday’s game, I was giving him a hard time about chasing the inside pitch, even though he didn’t want to. Before Wednesday’s game, I walked up and gave him a business card with my cellphone number on it. I said “You can call me day or night … any time you start thinking about swinging at an inside pitch, call me and I’ll talk you out of it.”
He started laughing and said, “I like it!” Later, we talked about the game on Tuesday and how those pitches from Joel Pineiro actually started in the middle of the plate and then ran in, so Jeff’s not just hacking wildly. He did admit that once the pitch got in on him, he needed to shut down his swing and take it. He predicted a better day against Tyler Chatwood because Chatwood’s stuff was straighter. Then Jeff went out and got two hits.
Why they steal when they steal
A reader wondered whether all the pickoffs have made the Royals a little gun-shy about stealing bases lately. First-base coach Doug Sisson said absolutely not. If the Royals aren’t stealing bases, it’s because the numbers (pitcher’s delivery time and catcher’s time getting the ball to second base) tell them not to. Some teams pay more attention to this than others. When the numbers say they can go, they will.
Doug also made the point that with Jarrod Dyson in Omaha and Chris Getz out of the lineup at times, the Royals become a team of “situational” base stealers. They will steal when the math says yes, but for a lot of these guys, it often says no.
And while we’re talking about Doug
Early Tuesday Doug was hitting fungos to the outfielders, and they were throwing home. I asked what they were working on, and Doug said one-hop throws. So the next logical question was, “Why one-hop throws?”
“Because you’ll never miss the cutoff man.”
If you try to throw the ball all the way in the air to a base, the trajectory can get too high and runners can advance while everyone waits for the ball to come down. If the outfielder one-hops the throw, the ball is low enough to be cut off. Sisson also said they don’t ask outfielders to “hit the cutoff man.” They ask outfielders to hit the bases. It’s the cutoff man’s responsibility to get into position to handle the throw.
Woody and the splitter
I’ve meant to ask him a dozen times, but finally got around to it. What the heck is Blake Wood looking at when he’s staring into his glove before he throws a pitch?
Blake is getting the ball in his split-finger grip. It’s hard for him to jam the ball back between the fingers, so he starts in that grip and goes to the easier ones. If he did it the other way around, everyone would know once he started fooling with the ball that the pitch would be his splitter.
Speaking of tipping pitches
I talked some more with Jeff Montgomery about tipping pitches because people are speculating about that with Joakim Soria. Monty said you can tip a pitch in a number of ways: The way the glove is held, the position of your elbow and, interestingly enough, the forefinger on your glove hand.
That is why they started putting those little leather finger sleeves on the back of baseball gloves. Apparently, some pitchers would curl their fingers and tip off what they were doing with the other hand. And I thought they had the finger sleeves just because they looked cool.
Butler
Paulino
Collins
Good game, Esky's glove is worth a lot of missing offense, Hos helped on that play too, making it look effortless. Pitching was a joy to behold.
Glad to see Butler come through, been a lot of discussion as to his worth now that he is not the sole offensive star on the team. And Getzie is still hitting over .250! Does he look a little like Michael J. Fox or is that just my imagination?
Escobar continues to sparkle on defense; Our defense up the middle - Escobar, Getz, and Melkey all basically new this year (Getz missed so much of the season last year), and it has made a huge difference. We are not only getting to the point where we can out bash someone, but showing we can win the close, low scoring game (if the back end of the bull pen comes through).
I thought that was just a home run trot by Jose Guillen...
This is just a lame comment from a life-long Royals fan in Tulsa. I've been reading your stuff all season, and just want to tell you I really enjoy it. You write about baseball like I remember playing it, and it's a treat to hear about the team from the inside. Man, I wish you'd been there in the clubhouse with George, Frank, Willie, Sabes and that bunch. Anyway, thanks for the insight. I like this team again, I just wish I could see them play. I did see Hos and Moose when they came to town with NW Arkansas to play the Drillers. Keep up the good work.
Is there a place where an old fart like me can go and write about his Royals memories? 'Cause I have a lot of 'em. I grew up listening to Denny on the radio, and I grieved for Splitt last week. Where do I unload these pent up Royalisms?
While I don't disagree with this, just remember, eventually the winds of change tend to favor "guys that can hit" more than "guys that can play defense."
I think good teams need guys, especially at shortstop, that are wizards, even if they are weak hitters (think, Ozzie Smith.) But on a struggling team, managers often cave in to the "we need a hitter" mindset.
As long as Escobar keeps playing stellar defense, I hope he stays in the lineup.
I agree with Tim except a caveat has to be made for someone who plays super-human defense at the most important position on the field. Getz is a stellar 2b man but he is not in the league of an Escobar, clearly and obviously saving runs on a regular basis. Thus he will always struggle to stay in a lineup when he is not hitting. Not so true with Escobar. Would anybody rather have yuni at his most productive at bat in exchange for Escobar despite the weak bat? If yes then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you...
Ron,
Sounds like you might want to start a blog. Tumblr.com is a good place to start.
Ron: Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying what we're doing here. As for George, Frank and the gang, actually I was hanging out with them in those days, just not writing about it. It was nothing like it is now, where I'm there every day, but once in a while I'd run into George and a bunch of the guys in a restaurant near my house and we'd close down the bar together. Part of what I wanted to do with this website is bring some of the player personality and humor to the fans. And it was always interesting to hear what was actually happening on the field.
Tim: I'm a pitching and defense guy. Obviously, you have to have SOME offense, but with good pitching and defense, not nearly as much. And over time, I believe defense wins out: a good hitter will take 0-fers, but a good defender is a good defender every day.
Matt: I'm pretty much on the same page: Esky is playing awesome short and doesn't have to hit much at all to stay on the field. I don't think Getz is stealing hits at the rate Escobar is, so you're right, he's got to do a bit more on the offensive side, but remember, he does a LOT of things pretty well on offense: stealing a base, bunting, hit and runs, etc. Chris has got a lot of tools that keep him on the field. Getz says his most important stat is on-base percentage and sees himself as a table-setter and run scorer.
All well and good about the value of Escobar's glove. Everybody is sayng the right thing. Eventually, though, he is going to have to hit above the Mendoza line or he is gone.
That's the way it works.
Lee, I agree with you about pitching and defense. I was just pointing out, sometimes managers get a bee in their bonnet, and start thinking they need offense more than defense.
And I know you aren't an offense guy. I sat behind the plate when you were at bat many, many times. ;-)
Tim: Now THAT'S brutal...but accurate. I also couldn't pitch or play defense, so I was a good enough manager to keep me off the field.
Actually, Lee....you owned the equipment so you got to manage ! lmao...sorry, dude, that was sitting there ! Good defense up the middle, offense from the corners and sometimes someone up the middle would hit something
Got a question for you from Wednesdays game. I think it was the bottom of the 8th when Getz drew a walk and then Yost had Treanor sac bunt. They then had 2 chances to get Getz in from second but one of those was for Esky. When I was watching the game I really thought the thing to do would be to try a steal with Getz,then have two chances to get him in from third. The way Escobar is hitting I think it would be a lot more likely he could get a guy in from third with a sac fly than a hit. Wondering what you thought in this situation
I have NEVER liked the sac bunt to 2nd. Let's face it; getting a base hit in MLB is tough, especially in game situations where the sac might be deemed warranted. Plus the open base sets the stage for walking a good hitter to set up the inning ending dp. I have to believe the negatives outweigh the positives, especially when measured against the potential in a steal-and-sac scenario as described by Cody. At LEAST try the ol' hit-and-run; you might get a first-and-third out of the deal (or better) and improve your odds of staying out of the dp and getting the runner to second anyway. There are risks but there are risks in everything.
In a nutshell, I concur.
What Doug Sisson told me was the decision to steal is pure arithmetic: when the pitcher's delivery tiome to first and the catcher's delivery time to second adds up to more than the runner's time to the next base, they go.
I'm not always against the sac bunt to move a guy to second, but I think you're right to consider the downside.