Games » Seattle Mariners
Sep8How you give up an unearned run
Lee Judge
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With two outs in the 7th inning, Luke Hochevar gave up a single to Ichiro Suzuki. Easy to do, the guy’s pretty good, even in an off year. Normally a runner on first with two outs is not a huge emergency. Usually, the runner is still two hits away from scoring. Unfortunately for the Royals, Ichiro is kinda fast going to second and Luke is kinda slow going home.
I’ve been told Hochevar can have problems throwing strikes from the slide step, so that means he has to use a high-leg kick to stay in the zone. The Mariners own stopwatches, too, so Ichiro stole second and then third. (Yet another example of why all stats should be taken with a grain of salt: the bases were stolen because Hochevar is slow home, but they’ll go on Salvador Perez’ record.)
I don’t know what the Royals preach, but there is a school of thought that says don’t worry too much about the runner, do what you have to get the batter and the runner can’t hurt you. Luke actually did that and got Brendan Ryan, the batter at the plate while all this base stealing was going on, to hit a grounder to Alcides Escobar, which should have ended the inning.
On a fairly routine play, Esky did not get his hands out in front. When that happens, the hands are hard: when they’re out in front, they can give with the ball, when they’re back, they’ve got no place to go. Esky bobbled the ball, picked it up, threw in a rush and buried the throw. E6, run scored.
So it wasn’t the hit that hurt, it was A.) being slow to the plate and B.) having the hands in the wrong position. Take away that run and the leadoff walk that scored in front of Justin Smoak’s home run and the Royals have the tying run on third in the 9th inning.
Now that I think about it, the Royals gave up two unearned runs.
Game notes
The ball got away when Ichiro stole second and Melky Cabrera did a nice job of backing the play up, otherwise Ichiro would’ve been on third a little sooner than he was.
Despite the walk that scored and not controlling Ichiro on the bases, Luke Hochevar pitched well again. He struck out nine. When you see a batter foul off pitch after pitch with two strikes, that can mean the pitcher does not have a put-away pitch. Luke had a couple of long at-bats, but seven of his nine strikeouts came on the slider and six of those were swinging. Sounds like a put away pitch to me.
Eric Hosmer is not that fast, and that’s according to Eric Hosmer. When I asked the base stealers what time they could beat when the pitcher goes home, Hos had the highest, 1.5. Despite that, he still steals bases. His success rate is 64% and the Royals are shooting for 75% overall, so he probably still needs work on when he goes. I’ll bring this up with Doug Sisson when the team returns.
Speaking of Doug, he told me that the Mariners play a deep outfield. It’s the baseball version of the “prevent defense.” Seattle is trying to force the opposition to get three singles to score a run. Watch for that positioning to come into play on balls that fall in between the infield and outfield, balls that are cut off in the gap preventing extra bases and runners taking the extra base when the ball is fielded deep.
Mike Moustakas, who also can beat a 1.5 delivery time, prefers not to steal. In this game he looked like he was having a hard time reading lefty Jason Vargas’ move and was sometimes headed back to first when Vargas went home.
With two outs, a steal is a common move, especially if you don’t mind seeing the hitter at the plate lead off the next inning. If it’s a weak hitter, the runner will sometimes stay put, knowing that getting thrown out can also screw up the next inning when the weak hitter leads off with an out.
With two outs in the 6th, Melky Cabrera stole second with Hosmer at the plate. If Melky gets thrown out, Hos leads off the 7th with a fresh count. If Melky’s safe, either Hos gets to hit with a runner in scoring position or they can walk Hosmer and face Jeff Francoeur with two runners on. They chose to go after Hosmer and he drove the run in.
Then when Hosmer stole second with two outs, Frenchy did not have a bat behind him that would force them to pitch to him. So with first open, they walked Jeff and went after Moose, lefty on lefty and Moose struck out.
A leftover
A reader asked why I didn’t write about the play at the plate Wednesday afternoon in Oakland. The truth is I make no attempt to write about everything, I try to pick small moments of interest that teach us something about the game. But after watching several replays of Salvador Perez blocking the plate, the reader was right, I should’ve written about it.
To me, the most remarkable thing about the play was Sal’s left foot (once again). Perez does a phenomenal job of leaving that foot in place no matter where the rest of his body has to go to receive the ball. That foot is placed on the third base foul line in front of the plate. If you’ve watched the “Catcher’s Blind Spot” video on this website, you know that moving that foot can cause the catcher to lose position.
Perez didn’t move the foot despite having to go far to his right to receive the throw and getting run over when he came back for the tag. I can see why veteran catchers like Ned Yost and John Gibbons think this kid is special.
OK, here’s what I got wrong lately
As promised, Doug Sisson has responded to my emails while the Royals are on the road. Here’s what I got wrong lately: In the Sept. 6 game against Oakland I said the Johnny Giavotella made a mental mistake when he didn’t cover second on a ball hit to Yamaico Navarro.
Yamaico was playing third, got a grounder behind the bag and decided to go to second base for the force and third out of the inning, except nobody was covering second. I thought it was Johnny’s bag and so did Doug, but he said Eddie Rodriguez was telling Alcides Escobar it was his responsibility to cover the bag. So, no mental mistake for anyone until I can talk to Eddie Rodriguez. (Once again, a lesson in not jumping to conclusions.)
That lets Gio off the hook for a mental mistake on defense, but Doug said I missed a Giovatella mental mistake on offense: in the second inning of the same game Navarro came to the plate with Johnny on second and Salvador Perez on first. Yamaico hit the ball over the right fielder’s head, but for a while, it looked like the right fielder might catch the ball.
Perez advanced as far as he could (almost to second) and Gio came back to tag. I said that was good base running because that’s what I’d been taught: on a questionable catch with no outs, go back and tag, with one out take a lead and with two outs, haul the mail. Apparently, the Royals are playing a slightly more sophisticated game.
In that situation (no outs, questionable catch) they want the runner to stay off the base in his secondary lead. The logic goes this way: if the ball is caught deep, the runner still has time to get back to the bag, tag and advance to third. (And if this ball had been caught, that’s exactly what would’ve happened: the catch would’ve been on the warning track with the outfielder moving away from the infield.) If the ball is not caught, staying in the secondary lead allows the runner to score. So Johnny’s base running cost Navarro a double and an RBI and meant Navarro did not score himself later in the inning.
Bit by bit
OK, what you just read is at the heart of winning baseball. This is how teams get better. Good teams pay attention to tiny little details like how far the runner extends his lead on a fly ball to the outfield when there’s nobody down. Good teams know this situation will come up again and, if they learn from a past mistake, they can be better the next time it happens.
You also just got a look at the kind of thing that’s said during a Doug Sisson base-running session. What Doug just told me and I just told you, is also what Doug probably told Johnny Giavotella. This is how teams get better. I see Doug going over these situations with his runners on a consistent basis. It’ll be 3 p.m. on a boiling-hot day, the game’s four hours away and Doug and the runners are walking through situations from previous games. This is how you prepare to win. Bit by bit you improve.
I’ve told Doug and Seitz and Ned and Eddie and everybody else I’ve ever talked to, that they shouldn’t hesitate to correct me. I want to get this stuff right. I want to understand what I’m seeing and I want you to understand what you’re seeing.
Because of the mistake in Oakland, Johnny Giavotella is now a better base runner, I’m a better sports writer and you’re a better fan.
Bit by bit we improve.
So that's what that means...
Former Royals reliever Kanekoa Texeira explained the term used when a manager tells a reliever to start getting ready in the bullpen, then never uses him. (Video by John Sleezer/The Kansas City Star)
Hochevar
Francoeur
Hosmer
Good stuff, but I think most who fans who have played at just about any level thought Giavotella should have been part way off the bag the other night. Only going back and tagging immediately if on 3B or you are sure the ball is going to be caught. Giavotella just misread the ball. That'll happen.
And I just hate collisons at the plate. This is different era with players bigger and faster - too much velocity and leverage. I waiting for either a catcher to run up the 3B line and blast a runner who is dead out or a runner to blast an infielder. The commish, the hard heads, the old skoolers and the macho men need to reconsider allowing catchers to get plowed, especially since now we are seeing brain injuries (Treanor's concussion) to go along with potential career ending injuries.
Rick: Apparently I'm one of the people who misread that fly ball. I was taught (by some guys who played at a really high level...like the big leagues) to go back and tag right away.
I was told that either the ball is going to be caught, and you'll end up on third, or the ball will drop and the worst situation you'll find yourself in is two runners on, one of them on third and nobody out.
But the guys who taught me weren't base running coaches and Doug Sisson is. So he, and whoever taught you, is right: the way you describe it makes more sense.
Everybody: Here we go again. In the above post I praised Salvador Perez for maintaining position on the plate.
In this morning's paper, the Star's beat writer, Bob Dutton, reported Ned Yost saying Sal needed to improve his position on the plate so he doesn't get runover as often...and Ned knows a smidge more about catching than I do.
Here's the deal: I've been taught a lot of the basics, but these guys are playing baseball at the highest level. It's the best league in the world and they don't always play by the book.
They may have a reason it's OK to make the first or third out at third sometimes (I've heard it). Or lay down the bunt to the first base side when moving a runner to third (heard that reason, too).
What's very cool about this is the Royals take this project seriously enough to show me the way the game is played at the very top.
When they show me the nuances of major league baseball, I get to show you. And we all get smarter.
I don't know about you, but I could certainly stand getting smarter...I hope it happens soon.
Thanks for the insight. I am glad that you get to talk to the coaches on these things. So, if Johnny should take a lead with no outs off second, should he do the same with one out? My initial thought is that with one out, he should go back to the bag and tag right away, because they might want to send the runner home with two outs. With zero outs, they still have an out to give if the ball is caught.
Eric: I can give you the by the book answer, but bear in mind, the Royals are often not going by the book.
With 0 outs they want the runner to be able to tag and wind up at third with 1 down. They just don't think the runner always needs to be standing on the bag when the catch is made to get this done. As long as the catch is made deeply enough, the Royals think the runner still has time to go back, tag and advance.
With 1 out, the book says take a lead as far as the position of the catch allows (deep, bigger lead, shallow, shorter lead). The reasoning here is that if the ball drops the runner can probably score and if it's caught the runner is still in scoring position with two outs.
However, there are times the Royals believe this doesn't apply. On Fenway for instance, there is no guarantee that the runner on second with two outs will be able to score on a hit, left field is too shallow. So in that case, they might want the runner tagging with 1 out also.
As these guys take us deeper and deeper into the game, I'm learning there is no 'one size fits all' answer. Everything depends on the specifics of the situtation.
Lee, I am glad Doug addressed your thoughts on the Gio tag of 2nd. I thought you were wrong in your thinking on that play b/c I was always taught to hold my secondary lead as well like the Royals preach. I reserved the notion of disagreeing via this blog due to your inside knowledge and I thought I was in the wrong when I played. Just goes to show how many schools of thought there are about this game. On that note, I have never understand why people call this game boring!!
Let me say that I just re-read my post and I think it is harsh for me to say you were "wrong". Different strokes for different folks!
This whole discussion points out the intricacies of baseball where one answer does not fit all. Each situation is unique, and players must make split second decisions in the moment and without the time to deeply analyze it as we can after the fact. It is really amazing to see how many times they "get it right". Great conversation, Lee.
Joel, couldn't agree more with everything you said!!
Darral: No, go ahead and say I was wrong. I was and will be again. If I can't admit that, I can't learn anything.
And the Royals are offering all of us a unique learning opportunity. If this is happening someplace else, great, but I don't know about it. We have coaches and players and the manager explaining the small details of the game as they play it. That provides us with a unique inside look at a major league team.
But you're also right that not everyone agrees all the time: I once asked John Gibbons about a base running play and he said it was horrible, the runner shouldn't have taken that chance.
Doug Sisson walked up and I asked about the same play and he said it was great, just the kind of chance they need to take.
I looked at Gibby and said, "Why do I even talk to you?" He said, "Stop, it won't hurt my feelings."
Luckily, I enjoy learning the details of the game and the Royals enjoy explaining them.
Joel: Thanks. And I'm glad you guys like hearing about this stuff. These details give an incredible texture to the game.
Some day we might see Johnny Giavotella score an important run because he stayed out on his secondary lead and those of us who followed along will know he learned that by screwing it up in Oakland.
And you're so right about one size not fitting all (need to write about that). When Ned Yost explains why he played for a tie on the road and it makes sense, it gives you a deeper understanding of all the possibilites that the game provides.
Going to use this one for my kid's team that I coach. awesome teaching point!..."On a fairly routine play, Esky did not get his hands out in front. When that happens, the hands are hard: when they’re out in front, they can give with the ball, when they’re back, they’ve got no place to go."
Vinnie: Glad I can help. That was one of those things shown to me 20 years too late.
I love all the details in this site, too. I haven't commented, but I check this site every day to get new insights about the previous Royals game.
Antonio: Thank you. I hope the details you pick up about a Royals game helps you enjoy any baseball game you happen to be watching on a deeper level.
I know being exposed to these players and coaches has done that for me.