Games: Oakland Athletics, April 11: Judging the Royals with Lee Judge

Games » Oakland Athletics

Apr11

Playing the game right

After four hours, nine runs, 16 hits, eight walks and almost 400 pitches, the Royals may have lost this game because shortstop Alcides Escobar did not take two steps forward.

Escobar has a great arm. Shortstops with great arms sometimes rely on those great arms too much. If you have a weak arm, you charge every ground ball you can. You need to shorten your throw. Moving forward puts you on the balls of your feet, brings your upper body forward into a better fielding position and provides momentum for a throw. But if you lay back on a ground ball and count on that great arm to make up for all the things you’re not doing, you’re going to be in trouble on any bad hop or momentary bobble. I don’t know if Alcides felt he had to play the ball the way he did, but if he had the chance to move forward and didn’t, it was a mistake.

To be fair, I could have picked on any number of bad things that happened in this 12-inning game: Brayan Pena sailed a throw into left field that allowed a runner to score, Bruce Chen walked a leadoff batter who later scored and, of course, closer Jonathan Broxton walked two batters and hit two batters — one more than the average number of bases on a baseball field.

But I wanted to pick the smallest thing I could think of to make this point; you have to play the game right all the time. Even after four hours and 400 pitches. Even when you’re tired. If Esky steps forward, maybe he’s in a better fielding position, maybe he gets the second out of the 12th inning and even if Broxton still walks the next two batters, maybe the game ends on Coco Crisp’s grounder to second.

A few things that didn’t go well

• Speaking of Coco Crisp, he came up in the 12th inning with one out, the bases loaded and the Royals leading by a run. The odds of doubling up Crisp were not great. Broxton needed a strikeout, not a grounder. I wondered whether Pena would ask Broxton to bounce a breaking pitch in order to get a swing and a miss. (The catcher taps his mitt on the ground to let the pitcher know what he wants.) Asking your pitcher to bounce a pitch with the tying run on third base takes confidence in your ability to block a pitch. The Royals faced the same situation against the Angels with Peter Bourjos at the plate, and Pena didn’t call for a ball in the dirt that time, either. On the other hand, maybe Brayan had another plan to get a strikeout, but it just didn’t work.

• First-base coach Doug Sisson, who is doing everything in his power to raise my baseball I.Q., once told me to watch the quality of the pitch after a pitcher attempts three straight pickoffs. Well, Royals starter Bruce Chen attempted four in a row, and when he finally delivered the ball to the plate, Jonny Gomes hit it into the seats. Bruce has thrown quality pitches after numerous pickoff attempts, but this time the pitch was up in the zone. Doug Sisson has made me aware of how much a fast base-runner can affect the quality of the pitches thrown to a batter.

• Chris Getz once told me that when Pena throws to second base, the throws sometimes tail to the first-base side. Chris comes out in front of the bag to make sure he can move laterally with the throw, if necessary. When Gomes stole second in the sixth inning, Brayan’s throw sailed and Getz made an acrobatic play to keep the ball on the infield. When Yoenis Cespedes stole third base in the second inning, Mike Moustakas couldn’t keep Brayan’s wide throw on the infield and the run scored.

• Speaking of Cespedes, when he got hit by a pitch in the 12th (something Broxton clearly did not want to do), he stared Jonathan down. This reminded me of something Jason Kendall once said: Guys who want to seem tough stare down the pitcher. Guys who are tough go get them. Kendall’s theory was that if you think it’s personal, charge the mound. If it’s not personal, get your butt down to first.

• Once again there were too many walks and high pitch counts. Two walks scored and the Royals lost by one, so it’s easy to see the consequences of not throwing strikes.

A few things that went right

I write a lot of positive stuff about ballplayers in general and the Royals in particular. Major-league ballplayers are among the best athletes in the world — but they’re not perfect. So when they mess up on the field, I write about that, too. In every game, ballplayers make mistakes. In every game, they do good things, too. Here are some of the good things from this game:

• Once again, let’s start with Alcides Escobar. He hit a pop fly to right field in the seventh inning and never stopped running. Esky ended up on second base when Oakland right fielder Jemile Weeks missed the ball. The play was scored an error by a scorekeeper, whom I’m guessing has never tried to catch a pop fly with the wind howling.

• Eric Hosmer once again kept the ball on the infield after a bad throw. (Not every outstanding play requires an out. If the fielder saves a base, or in this case, two bases, that’s good enough for me.) As I’ve said before, Hosmer’s ability to knock down short hops allows the other infielders to try spectacular plays — and every once in a while they make one.

• Several times ground balls have been hit up the middle, and I’ve expected to see the ball make it to the outfield, but a middle infielder was positioned right in front of it. Of course, I don’t know how many times an infielder should have been positioned in front of a ball that did make it to the outfield, but over the course of the first six games of this season, it looks as if someone is doing a good job of scouting.

• A ground ball hit right at a fielder who is playing a shift usually means that the pitcher hit his location.

• When Hosmer scored what looked to be the winning run in the top of the 12th inning, Jeff Francoeur did a small thing right. He was on deck and acted as a base coach. A runner coming home can’t see a ball coming from left field or center field, so the on-deck hitter gets in the runner’s line of vision and signals which side of the plate the runner should aim for. Hosmer was going for the third-base side, but he shifted at the last second to the first-base side and beat the throw.

• Another great diving catch from Alex Gordon. He’s also starting to have some of those hard-hit outs fall in.

OK, enough for now. I’m taking tomorrow off and going to watch the Royals work out in preparation for the home opener. Some of these guys haven’t been home since January, and they’re pretty eager to get back to KC and settle in.

Hope to see you out at Kauffman Stadium on Friday.

Comments

Joel Kallem
1 year, 1 month ago

For all the pluses and minuses you enumerated above, the thing that did the Royals in this game and often last year was giving away free bases and putting runners on without them having to “earn” their way to them. It is a little alarming to see this trend continue especially when it comes from some of our “veterans” like Bruce and Braxton. Hopefully, Coach Dave can have some immediate impact on this.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month ago

Joel: You’re right. Bob McClure lost his job partially because the Royals were issuing too many walks. Dave Eiland was brought in to fix that, but there have been entirely too many free passes in the first six games.

There’s a lot to be excited about with this team, but they have to throw more strikes than they did this first week.
Larry Tindle
1 year, 1 month ago

Lee: Seitzer says it takes 2 years for a batting coach. First year is gain trust, second year changes are made. Is it the same for a pitching coach. It seems some of the guys have improved but others not so much. Collins comes to mind as one that seems to be much better at throwing strikes this year. An outing like Braxton will slant the numbers for a while.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month ago

Larry: I would think so. Guys in the majors got there by doing something right, but there’s always someone willing to tinker with what you’re doing.

I was far too “coachable” myself. The end result was a mish-mash of hitting styles. I never picked an approach and stuck with it. Of course my hitting advice was coming from George Brett, Clint Hurdle and Russ Morman, so I was inclined to give anything they suggested a try. I needed to decide on an approach that was best for my talents (and they were few) and stick with it.

Eiland’s got the same problem; guys who have found an approach that got them to the big leagues and are suspicious of changes.

But the pitchers know they have to throw strikes. They know Bob McClure lost his job because they didn’t. Asking Eiland how he gets them to be aggressive and live with the results is on my list.

I think Tim Collins may have felt some pressure to change. He knew Mijares was going to be on the roster and he knew they weren’t happy with his ball-strike ratio last season.

Eiland got him to start in a more open position which simplified Tim’s mechanics. Mac tried the same thing last year, but Tim was very uncomfortable with it. Knowing his job was on the line may have gotten him over the hump.
Kurt Vancil
1 year, 1 month ago

The error was very costly and seemed to shake Broxton. After Broxton’s game Saturday my expectations for him increased, but after this game my expectations are tempered again. You don’t want any relievers to give up free bases, let alone your closer giving up four. Ouch!

I also noticed how much the defense shifted in these first six games. I first noticed against the Angels when Morales was up the 2Ber was position in shallow right field. I think Morales did get one infield hit because of it though.

Besides Broxton I thought our bullpen showed why it is one of our strengths this year. Very impressed by Holland.
Larry Tindle
1 year, 1 month ago

Although that had to be the ugliest finish I have ever seen, it seems like closers everywhere are struggling this year. Texas, New York and Detroit come to mind. Althought this was ugly I think I saw the funniest thing I have ever seen also. That shot they showed of Collins warming up next to Braxton in the bull pen was hilarious.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month ago

Kurt: Hard to say what was in Broxton’s head or whether Holland would be able to keep the same approach if closing. In basketball it would be the difference between shooting a 3 midway through the first half and making the same shot as a buzzer-beater.

Throwing the last inning with a small lead is mentally tough. Broxton’s next opportunity will be even tougher: will the same thing happen? Success breeds confidence, failure breeds doubt.

I did like Broxton’s response though: I just wasn’t very good, no excuses. Those guys have to be able to blow off a bad outing and move on to the next.

As for defensive positioning: we don’t pay much attention to it, but it’s there to see. When you’re at the park and a new hitter comes to the plate, watch the infield and outfield shift. If they move a defender and the ball is then hit right to him, that may not be an accident.
Jason Everett
1 year, 1 month ago

One of the things I’m happy to see is them coming back 3-3. Sure, I think we all would have liked a 4-2 road trip, but if you can play .500 ball on the road, and better than .500 at home, it means you have a good team… right???

Glad to see Gordo get a nice hit and some good at bats. I look to see the team get hot here at home, as long as this weather cooperates… Seems it followed them here from Oakland. :(
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month ago

Larry: Yeah, hard to beat an error, two walks and two hit by pitches for a bad finish.

And I burst out laughing at the shot of Broxton and Collins warming up. They didn’t look like they were part of the same species.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month ago

Jason: I think if anyone had asked the Royals before the trip if they’d be happy with 3-3, most of them would’ve said yes. Although, they all would’ve thought they’d win one against the Angels and two against the A’s.

You just hate to give away game like this, though. If you miss the playoffs by one game, you’re going to be kicking yourself over the one you gave away.

You’re right about the mental toughness they showed coming back, but any manager will tell you, they don’t mind getting beat—but they hate beating themselves.
Devan Shopinski
1 year, 1 month ago

Escobar waited for the ball instead of charging and I swear I remember him doing it once before this year that lead to an infield hit (can’t remember which game). Part of succeeding at this level is making adjustments. Let’s hope Eddie Rodriguez gets him to make that adjustment.

Devan
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month ago

Devan: I think you’re right, it’s not the first time he’s done it. I’m sure they’ve had that discussion. In my opinion the guy’s a fabulous fielder, but shouldn’t let a fairly routine ball play him.

Judging the Royals