Was that as enjoyable for you because it was for me? It’s been a busy month, each personally and for baseball. The All-Star recreation, the draft, the Trade Value Series (okay high quality, that one’s simply me), the deadline; it’s been a mile a minute for the reason that Fourth of July. Now we’re slipping again into regular baseball rhythms, with a month’s lull earlier than the September playoff chase heats up once more. I’m profiting from that break to get again to what I like: paying homage to Zach Lowe and speaking about 5 issues in baseball that tickled me. Despite the title, I’m casting a barely wider web than “this week” – we’ve missed so much!
1. Patty Bailiff
Patrick Bailey received the nickname Patty Barrels for his switch-hitting house run feats in faculty, however I’m formally revoking that one after he posted a 15 wRC+ for your entire month of July. It’s okay, as a result of he’s not right here to hit (although I believe his bat is completely acceptable and can rebound the remainder of the yr). He’s right here to maintain the protection so as and grind opposing working video games to a halt.
You assume you possibly can run in his courtroom (I’m stretching the analogy right here, I do know, however I just like the sound of it)? He’ll shut you down as rapidly as you possibly can say “Rickey Henderson.” Since he debuted, he’s comfortably atop the throwing leaderboard; he’s caught 19 runners stealing, six away from Shea Langeliers over than span. He has a cannon arm, pinpoint accuracy, and balletic footwork. He’s someway at all times in throwing place regardless of additionally being a superlative receiver. This is what 80-grade catcher protection appears to be like like.
To have fun being away from that horrible July, Bailey placed on a present Tuesday evening in opposition to the Diamondbacks. He began the sport on the bench for a well-deserved relaxation, however entered the sport as a defensive substitute when the Giants took a slim 4-3 lead into the eighth. He received issues going immediately by giving Jace Peterson a impolite welcome again to the Bay:
That’s outrageous. No time to gather himself, no time to get out of his crouch, no time to even assume; he gunned Peterson down remorselessly anyway. That regarded like a clear steal when the ball reached house plate regardless of the failed bunt try, however Bailey is simply too good:
That proper there’s a nice day for a defensive substitute. How many catchers are available in and instantly erase a baserunner? He wasn’t carried out, although. In the ninth inning, Arizona put one other baserunner on, however Bailey wasn’t having any of it:
That’s completely unbelievable. Two innings, two baserunners erased, and considered one of them a recreation clincher. Just perfection. Take a have a look at it from one other wonderful angle:
I don’t actually have anything to say. Bailey is perhaps the very best defender in baseball proper now. He’s successful video games together with his throwing arm, which is what pitchers are speculated to do, not catchers. The Giants wouldn’t be almost this good with out him.
2. The Versatile Reds
Cincinnati is in a pitched battle for the highest spot within the NL Central. I’ve written about them steadily this yr, largely as a result of they’re so dang enjoyable. It’s not simply the sheer youthful exuberance of the Reds that attracts me in, although. I additionally love their avant-garde method to lineup building, enabled by a humiliation of center infield riches and some versatile nook sorts.
Here’s an instance off the highest of my head. On July 6, they pulled out a slim victory over the Nationals, 5-4 in 10 innings. That’s not notably notable; the Nats aren’t what you’d name “good” this season, despite the fact that they’re not the whole laughingstock that some feared earlier than the season. No, what I cherished about this recreation was that Cincinnati used a number of gamers at each defensive place.
Take a have a look at this pleasant chaos:
That’s proper: Kevin Newman, of all folks, began at first base. He received changed defensively by Spencer Steer, then Joey Votto, then Steer once more after Votto himself received changed. Newman received pulled from the sport as a result of the Reds pinch hit for Luke Maile with TJ Friedl, then left Friedl within the recreation in middle subject. That meant they wanted a brand new catcher, and Curt Casali subbed into Newman’s lineup spot. Easy peasy.
Only, they pinch hit for Casali too (with Votto). That meant that DH Tyler Stephenson needed to give up his DH duties and don the instruments of ignorance. But that meant the crew wanted to place a pitcher into the lineup. Sure, no drawback; Jonathan India made the final out of the inning the place Votto pinch hit, so the crew merely pulled him for the pitcher’s spot.
But wait, who performs second base? That could be Matt McLain, who shifted over from shortstop. Naturally, then, Elly De La Cruz moved from third to brief, and Steer, who had began the sport in left earlier than shifting to first base, slid over to 3rd with Votto changing him.
Following up to now? Good, good. Things had been just about commonplace from right here till the underside of the tenth, when the Reds introduced of their defensive replacements. Steer moved again to first, Nick Senzel moved from proper subject to 3rd, and Jake Fraley took over in proper. Just your commonplace LF-1B-3B-1B line for Steer.
If you’ve been following alongside, you’ll notice I left two positions unmentioned. After Friedl pinch hit, he stayed within the recreation as a middle fielder, however the Reds didn’t take away their unique middle fielder from the sport. Senzel merely slid from middle to proper, which meant Will Benson needed to transfer from proper to left, which was the impetus for shifting Steer from left subject to the infield within the first place. It all is sensible while you observe by means of on it, however nobody is making these sorts of hockey-style bulk substitutions within the common DH period. No one besides the Reds, that’s.
3. Miguel Rojas, Savvy to the End
Miguel Rojas was by no means a lot of an offensive menace, and he’s been outright terrible this yr. Honestly, “awful” is perhaps too variety to him. He’s hitting .223/.275/.285. He hit his first homer of the yr on Wednesday, and it’s August. That’s not while you’re speculated to hit your first house run. The Dodgers went out and traded for Amed Rosario, and so they should be hoping to ease Rojas out of the lineup sooner reasonably than later.
That looks as if an inexpensive plan to me, however I need to give a fast nod to his profession earlier than he’s relegated to the dustbin of historical past. I cherished watching Rojas on a sequence of terrible Marlins groups, and it wasn’t due to his uncanny capability to rack up one to 2 Wins Above Replacement yr in and yr out. In one particular part of the sport, and one particular part solely, he resembles Mookie Betts. That part? Self-assuredly clean actions on protection.
I’m mentioning this to not say that the Dodgers ought to maintain taking part in him, however reasonably as a result of a play he made a couple of weeks in the past made all my previous recollections of Rojas come dashing again. It wasn’t precisely a spotlight reel play. You may miss it in the event you weren’t in search of it. But his footwork and instincts are clean like creamy peanut butter:
There are a ton of how to get that play unsuitable. You might cost the ball; in double play conditions, it’s usually a good suggestion to go and get the ball to save lots of valuable fractions of a second. But that wouldn’t work right here, as a result of there was no probability of turning two if a number of throws had been wanted. Charge this one, and also you’re one out most. You might angle your physique unsuitable; to make this play, you should catch the ball together with your weight carrying you in direction of first base. You might get the footwork unsuitable; the timing was so tight that the foot that hits second base must be your plant foot for the throw to first.
All of that was automated for Rojas. The Orioles broadcast remoted Rojas on a replay that basically drives his talent house:
Those uneven steps are all a part of the plan. Even the best way he fields the ball is deliberate; the footwork means there’s no want for a barehanded stab, however the switch must be quick, and Rojas dropped down on the throw to accommodate that and likewise to keep away from a sliding Colton Cowser. He did it with no time to spare in anyway; it was a bang-bang play at each bases. If his inner clock was even barely off, the Dodgers might need ended up with no outs as an alternative of two. But his clock wasn’t off. It’s by no means off.
Modern baseball statistics are actually good at measuring how worthwhile Rojas’ protection is, and it’s not worthwhile sufficient to offset his anemic offensive expertise. But they’ll’t measure the sheer pleasure I get out of watching his protection. Even Betts himself simply sat there and admired it from a entrance row seat. I hope we get a lot extra performs like this from him earlier than his offense performs him off the sphere.
4. Manny Being Manny
This most likely received’t shock you given my basic style in baseball gamers, however I like Manny Machado. I like his protection and his straightforward energy. I like his mannerisms on the sphere. I cherished when he sulked performatively each time the Padres shifted him into shallow proper subject. I like his 80s-TV-villain demeanor on the plate. As it seems, I additionally love watching him take pitches.
When Machado is taking all the best way, you’ll realize it instantly:
Nope, most likely not swinging at that one. He didn’t even maintain his hand on the bat! He’d clearly made the choice to take it doesn’t matter what, and it was a savvy choice; José Berríos had been wild all inning. But there’s no pretense of standing in in any respect. He’s up there fully uninterested within the pitch – perhaps he’s excited about the climate, or why the cash in Canada is all plasticky-feeling.
With that pleasant take out of the best way, he stood in for the subsequent pitch and at the very least regarded like he was contemplating taking motion:
Berríos regarded befuddled on the mound. Was Machado simply not going to swing? There’s one thing about his languid pre-pitch demeanor that makes it really feel like he’s barely deigning to concentrate to what’s happening. But that’s only a cowl; throw him one thing he’s serious about, and it’s go time:
That’s a ferocious hack; the barrel of the bat virtually made it to the outfield. Imagine how a lot power he will need to have been swinging with to shatter the bat so fully and nonetheless muscle the ball for a bloop single.
The dichotomy between relaxation and motion is baseball in a nutshell – Willie Mays described the game as “violence under wraps.” But nobody taking part in in the present day epitomizes that for me fairly like Machado. He can shut it down fully for a pitch, then crank it as much as max effort to brute power a ball to the outfield, then take all of it the best way again down for a businesslike acknowledgement of his success:
5. George Kirby’s Alien Precision
As the saying goes, to err is human. Baseball has an effective way of reminding us of that. The finest hitters make outs 60% of the time. The finest pitchers quit the occasional mammoth house run. Sure-handed defenders make errors, contact wizards whiff, and elite baserunners get thrown out. The sport is difficult!
Don’t inform George Kirby that, although. He has otherworldly command – he’s working a 2.7% stroll price! – and it was on full show in his begin in opposition to the Twins on July 20. Check out this sequence in opposition to Alex Kirilloff, for instance:
I ignored two fishing expeditions on 0-2 and 1-2 to make the GIF an inexpensive size, however you get the thought: Kirby has the ball on a string. That slider away/slider down mixture is ludicrous; they’re each completely situated. Then he dots the identical nook with a fastball, and has a breaker-for-a-strike wrinkle in his bag too? Come on, that’s overkill.
He had an entire bagful of these perfectly-placed pitches that day. Check out this smash minimize of 4 strikeouts:
That fastball goes the place Kirby tells it to. If you’re preserving rating at house, he’s completely able to dotting each edges with it, and he can transfer it up and down as acceptable. Oh yeah – he’s frequently hitting 97 mph. Seems fairly good to me!
When Kirby’s as on as he was on this recreation, it looks like he’s simply toying with hitters. As he chugged in direction of the conclusion of this seven inning, 10 strikeout gem, he eschewed his secondary pitches and painted together with his fastball. First to Byron Buxton to get a straightforward come out:
Then to Willi Castro for his final strikeout:
Kirby will most likely at all times quit his justifiable share of house runs, however that’s a small worth to pay for his scientific command. There can be no walks. There can be loads of disbelieving batters. It isn’t how most pitchers succeed, however it’s undeniably enjoyable to observe.
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com