Games » Cleveland Indians
Apr14Chain reaction
Lee Judge
The Kansas City Star
Let’s start at the beginning of this game: Jonathan Sanchez was all over the place. In less than three innings Sanchez threw 75 pitches and 37 of them weren’t strikes, he walked four, threw four balls in the dirt and also hit a batter — which is when Shin-Soo Choo screwed over his own pitching staff. Sanchez had hit Choo before, breaking his thumb. Choo did not like getting hit again by the same guy. But it was pretty clear Sanchez had little control Saturday night. The odds that Sanchez hit Choo on purpose were almost zero. Heck, the way Sanchez was throwing, if he tried to hit Choo he probably would’ve killed an usher.
Interesting thing about getting hit really hard by a pitch — as I discovered last year — you get a crazy surge of adrenaline. Your body has been attacked and it wants to help you fight back. I dropped about seven F-bombs in about 14 seconds after getting drilled, so Choo probably wasn’t thinking straight either.
Choo’s reaction brought both benches on to the field, order was then restored, but Cleveland pitcher Jeanmar Gomez decided he needed to retaliate. So in the bottom half of the inning he drilled Mike Moustakas. Warnings had been issued, so Gomez was gone. If Jeanmar had been thinking straight, he’d have waited until he qualified for the win — he was up 5-0 — before retaliating. Gomez needed to behave like a professional — and drill someone in the sixth.
Because Choo didn’t just take his base, Gomez felt the need to retaliate and Cleveland had to use seven relievers to get through the next eight innings. Jonathan Sanchez did not make it out of the third inning and the Royals had to use six relievers to get through seven and a third innings. So instead of the Indians having a distinct advantage today, both bullpens got chewed up Saturday night.
Yuni
For those of you who have wondered publicly why Yuniesky Betancourt is still in a major league uniform, your answer may have come at around 9:10 last night. In the 8th inning, on the fifth pitch by Vinnie Pestano, Yuni hit a game-tying home run. Like all players, Betancourt has deficiencies, but he has enough positives to keep him employed. Power from a middle infielder is one of those positives.
It seems like when Betancourt plays, some fans want a more reliable defender on the field. When Chris Getz plays, the same fans want a second baseman with more pop. I’m assuming there’s shortage of terrific fielding, great hitting, reasonably priced second baseman or the Royals would have one standing out there.
Game stuff
Several people have wondered whether Betancourt’s problem going to his left was responsible for the ball that trickled through on that side in the first inning on opening day. Doug Sisson said no, it was more the effect of an ankle injury that hasn’t fully healed. (Possibly the same reason Betancourt didn’t score on a Mike Moustakas double last night — but there were conflicting reports about Yuni slowing down when he thought Choo had caught the ball. I was watching Choo and never saw a definitive replay. If anyone did, let me know.)
I once asked Clint Hurdle what you do when you have to come off the bench to support a teammate, but have no desire to fight anyone. Clint said you find your best friend on the other team, hold each other back and make dinner plans.
Old-time baseball guys would say the umpire’s warning was issued too soon. The Indians had a player hit, but suffered a warning before retaliating. Some people think the other team should get to drill a batter then issue the warning and say the feud is over.
There are plays you might say Jarrod Dyson should’ve made in the last two days, but catching Shin-Soo Choo’s game-winning double off the wall in the 10th inning isn’t one of them. Dyson ran a mile, jumped and came up about two inches short of making a fantastic catch. The only thing he did wrong on that play was not being taller.
Jarrod did make a mental mistake in the 4th inning when he double-clutched and then air mailed a throw home, trying to throw Asdrubal Cabrera out at the plate. Missing the cutoff man allowed the trail runner, Carlos Santana, to advance into scoring position, taking the double play out of order. Once Jarrod double-clutched, he had no chance at the lead runner.
Hochevar‘s bad inning
I got a chance to talk to the new pitching coach, Dave Eiland, about Luke Hochevar’s opening day start. I asked what the difference was between Luke Hochevar’s first inning — eight hits, seven runs — and Hochevar’s next three innings — one hit, no runs. Turns out, Luke got away from the game plan.
Hochevar was supposed to establish his fastball in off the plate early, which would open up the outer half. Luke failed to do this in the first inning, so when he left a pitch out over the plate it got ripped. Hochevar failed to be aggressive in the first inning, let the hitters get too comfortable and by the time he made the adjustment between innings, it was too late.
Timing is everything
If you wondered why Jarrod Dyson did not attempt to steal right away after leading off the 9th inning with a walk, Cleveland reliever Jairo Asencio was getting the ball home in under 1.2 seconds. I took my own advice and brought a stopwatch to the game and timed Asencio, but assumed I was doing something wrong because the times were too low. Then Ned Yost confirmed how quickly Asencio was getting the ball to the plate.
Over the last two years, pitcher Derek Lowe consistently delivered the ball to the plate in 1.5 seconds. Friday afternoon he was consistently delivering the ball to home plate in 1.2 seconds. As I’ve written before, now that they’ve gotten performance enhancing drugs out of the game, the stolen base is returning and pitching staffs are adjusting. (I only know all this because Doug Sisson told me.)
If pitchers are successful at stopping the steal, then the bunt and hit and run will be used more often. The Royals are perfecting the art of advancing on a pitch in the dirt to make up for the stolen base opportunities that are going to be lost with pitcher being quicker to the plate.
But don’t be surprised if you see a lot of those balls getting hammered. Guys quick to the plate often leave pitches up in the zone.
Dyson did not make a mistake
A couple readers asked if Jarrod Dyson made a mental mistake while running the bases in the home opener. Dyson was on first base with two outs in the 7th inning and tried to steal second. Jeff Francoeur put the ball in play to right field, Dyson slowed at second, found the ball, saw it drop and then continued on to third. Readers wanted to know if that was a mistake: why slow down if there were two outs?
Here’s Doug Sisson’s answer: because he was stealing second, Dyson had his head down until he heard the crack of the bat. Jarrod did the right thing by slowing down and locating the ball. As Doug pointed out, what if the ball was a grounder to short and Dyson rounded the base and ran into an out? What if the shortstop bobbled the ball and had no chance for a play at first, but Dyson bailed him out by running into the tag?
Because he didn’t know where the ball was, Dyson had to locate it before proceeding past second. This should only apply on a stolen base — any other play and Dyson should know where the ball is right away.
And Sisson agrees with my mental mistake scorekeeping — anytime a player does not know the number of outs, count or score, it’s a mental mistake, even if it doesn’t cost his team. It’s a mistake to even be on the field without knowing the information necessary to play the game.
Moustakas
Betancourt
Butler
Jack Irvine
1 year, 1 month agoI click on the headline for this article and I get nothing but comments (which there are none). I then wonder if you are being censored like I think I am. On other KCStar blogs I have questioned the desire of the Glass family to put a winner on the field, whether or not the Glass family is laughing up it’s sleeve at the people of KC and; the ethics of them doing either. I have never used an objectionable term (none worse than “crap”). Yet my posts repeatedly come up as “moderator review necessary”. I have no idea if they are ever posted.
I wonder if the Star is doing the same to you as they appear to be doing to me.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoJack: Nope. I’m not being censored. I just forgot to attach the game notes to the email I sent to the editors last night. That’s what happens when you’re working dog-tired.
The game notes have been sent in and should be up shortly.
Joel Kallem
1 year, 1 month agoJack, you are not being censored, simply ignored. When you twist facts to “fit” your preconceived notions, nobody is interested, especially on this site. Legitimate questioning of how a play unfolds or the action of a player (not the player himself) are welcome but we don’t want diatribes about your “conspiracy” theories.
That said, Lee, I agree that Dyson’s only crime in the 10th was his being to short. Watching the replay shows he took a direct route to the wall and that his glove and ball arrived together - unfortunately the glove was an inch or so lower even though his leap took him way up the face of it.
The Royals have shown a lot of internal fortitude the last two games. As the old saying goes, “there is no quit in them”. Now if we can get our pitching to approximately what it was on the West Coast so we don’t have to make up 5-7 run leads we should be fine.
Devan Shopinski
1 year, 1 month agoLee
A couple observations from last night’s game about Yuni and Dyson.
He seems to have a slow glove to throwing hand transfer. He made a couple plays closer than they should have been. I wonder if he’s still trying to get used to the the arm angles and throws to 1st from second base.
Dyson appears to be having trouble getting good reads on fly balls and as a result, not getting good jumps. He looked tentative on Brantley’s triple in the 3rd and maybe on Santana’s double in that same inning.
I wonder if the background or lights or something is making it hard to see the ball off the bat.
Tyler Sharp
1 year, 1 month agoLee, the number of comments for each game have dramatically increased since you started this. Your first year, it was harder to find a game that had comments than one without comments. I find the comments now have great discussions and explanations…
I was just wondering if you have stats on the number of visitors per day to this site?
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoJoel: Coming back from 9-2 to tie the game shouldn’t be ignored. That’s a big deal that shows the team’s ability to fight back.
But having a pitching meltdown three times in a row can’t be ignored either. I don’t think there’s any way that will continue, but the Royals pitchers can’t keep putting the team in a hole.
The Royals are trying to be a speed team and once their down by multiple runs early they have to slug it out—not their game.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoDevan: I’ve seen Yuni make very quick glove-to-hand ball transfers, especially when charging forward from shortstop. I think he’s taking more time over at second—there’s not as much need to rush—but he doesn’t want to get too casual about it. Getting lazy with that throw can lead to a disaster.
Dyson is known as a very good defender. Sometimes guys who come up from the minors struggle with the upper deck—they don’t have them down there and they have to get used to picking up the ball against a crowd.
But I think the main thing you’re seeing—which is hard to appreciate unless you’re out here—is the effect of the wind. It’s been howling the last two days.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoTyler: You’re right, the number of people coming to this site has dramatically increased—over 600% from year one to year two. I think it took a while for people to figure out what I was doing. (Heck, it took ME a while to figure out what I was doing.)
You’re also right about the comments. People don’t always agree, but that’s OK. I think this is becoming a place to have a serious discussion about baseball…at least I hope so.
The reader comments and question often force me to go get an answer and that’s making the comments section better. I tell people you’re missing out on some of the best stuff—not always from me—if you don’t read the comments.
Phil Schreck
1 year, 1 month agoLee, If Dyson didn’t attempt a steal with no outs, why did he go with one out. Wasn’t the pitcher still getting the ball to the plate at the same rate?
Reid Atkinson
1 year, 1 month agoLee, great work as always! A couple of questions based off of observations from the stands at last nights game:
It seems like any ball hit right-center was being called by Frenchy. Isn’t that normally a center fielders call as to whether he gets it or not? It may be I am reading too much into it and the ball was more right than center but is this some clarification or adjustment the outfield has made since opening day when there appeared to be a miscommunication in the outfield by Dyson and Francoueur? (Frenchy ended up catching it.)
What are the unwritten rules in the retaliation plunk? Moose was the first batter up so did he just draw the short end of the straw? I would’ve guessed they would have retaliated against Francouer…you hit our right fielder, will get yours.
Larry Tindle
1 year, 1 month agoLee: I’m going to go back and watch the first inning of opening day again. At a casual glance the other day I commented to my wife that Luke was successful the second half of last year by being aggressive and pitching inside. It looked like Quintero was setting up out side most of the time.
Dyson gets rapped for not making those plays last night, but I cann’t think of too many other center fielders that would have even got close enough to have a chance.
Also do you think Hannahan (sp) will get suspended for his part in the brawl. He seemed to want to pour fuel on the fire.
Picking up the ball from the batter with a full crowd is difficult. Last year I was out on the pepsi party porch and had a difficult time picking up the ball. Especially on line drives. Dyson may be having trouble but will adjust. This may be why Frenchie is helping him out.
Justin Allen
1 year, 1 month agoAgree with all the takes on here about Dyson. Unfortunately, when you’re known for being ++ on defense and baserunning you’re expected to make one those plays and catch the routine.
I’m really curious if anyone spoke to Yost about having Francouer in the 2 hole. I know he’s been hot but he’s not the guy you want when you need to move a guy over as we saw in the 9th. That strikeout was brutal and you could see it coming a mile away.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoJust have a moment and I’ll eventually respond to everything here: Dyson was sent out this morning, Louis Coleman was brought up.
The Royals pen got hammered last night and they need an extra arm.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoPhil: Yes, the pitcher was still getting the ball to the plate in a hurry. They gave Francoeur a chance to do something, but with one out, time was running out.
Nobody has said this to me, but they may have wanted Jarrod on second before Hosmer’s AB was over for the lefty-righty matchup.
This morning Ned told me they were basically stealing on the catcher, but it just didn’t workout.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoReid: Yes, it’s the centerfielder’s call and I haven’t heard they made any adjustment out there.
And nobody is quite sure what the unwritten rules for retaliating are—mainly because they’re unwritten.
In the press box we were speculating whther it would be Frenchy (right fielder for right fielder) or Hosmer (#3 hitter for #3 hitter). I think everyone was surprised it was Moose, mainly because Gomez had a 5-0 lead and just needed six outs for a win.
Get to the 6th and THEN drill somebody.
Sean Fischbach
1 year, 1 month agoWell that makes me wonder why a guy, who did not make the team out of spring training, was called up, allowed to start, AND lead off, in place of guys who did make the team out of spring training? Maier has got to be running out of patience.
Also, great write up today. Had me LOL a few times.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoLarry: If Hoch wasn’t coming inside some responsibility falls on Quintero. He’s got to get him to do it. It also sounds like when Luke tried to come inside he wasn’t getting it there, but he shouldn’t abandon the effort.
Ned made the same point you make: without Dyson’s speed he never comes close and nobody’s asking why the ball wasn’t caught.
And I’ve got no idea about Hannahan—but he did seem to be the most upset player on the field. And how about Ned getting right in the middle?
I don’t know about anybody else, but I kinda liked it.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoJustin: Yeah, Dyson has to at least play defense and he usually does. A rough couple days on a windy field.
Francoeur in the two-hole is a product of injuries. They’re having to patch together a lineup. Today it’s a more traditional two-hole hitter in Getz, but that’s three lefties in a row.
The idea of Frenchy in the two-hole was to get him fastballs if Dyson got on base and it worked on opening day—Frenchy never got a breaking pitch when Jarrod was on first.
Last night Asebcio was getting the ball to the plate so quickly he felt comfortable throwing sliders and changeups.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoSean: I know Ned likes Mitch off the bench because of his versatility. It gives Yost choices in the last three innings. He’s in there today.
And I’m glad I made you enjoyed the notes from last night.
Aaron Bailey
1 year, 1 month agoRegarding some good defense, Moose has been outstanding! You mentioned his spring work with the smaller glove, but I’ve been more pleased with his throws being chest high and on target every time after his throws last year always being an adventure. Is this better footwork or more concentration?
Jim Brown
1 year, 1 month agoWhy didn’t Ned have Frenchy try to bunt Dyson over in the ninth?
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoAaron: I don’t know what accounts for Mike’s throws early in the season, but I was watching the game with jeff Montogomery last night and after Mike’s diving stop, Monty pointed out you don’t make that play without a strong arm.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoJim: I don’t know how many bunt attempts Jeff Francoeur has, but I’m guessing it’s not many. The bunt may not have been a percentage move in his case.
In any case, I haven’t asked Yost about that, so I’m only speculating.
Sean Fite
1 year, 1 month agoi’ll admit that i’m speaking out of ignorance here, but with all the drama from last year concerning Sanchez and Choo, i thought it was more than coincidence that Choo got hit. what bothers me is if (and it’s a big if) it was on purpose, Sanchez is bringing old laundry from another team to the Royals who are trying to play the “right” way. it appeared to me that Sanchez really lost focus after the incident and it ended up costing us 5 runs and the game.
i’m probably just speaking out of frustration, but would there be any in house discipline for that if it was intentional? i’m not against a team taking care of it’s own, but this was a new team member bringing his past with him. it just all seemed very unnecessary.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoSean: I haven’t talked with everybody, but nobody seems to think it was intentional. Sanchez had a runner on first and was struggling to control the ball.
If management doesn’t like something a player does on the field, it might be taken care of behind closed doors. But I don’t get the sense that any thing like that took place.