Welcome to a different version of 5 Issues I Favored (Or Didn’t Like) This Week. I’m undecided that Zach Lowe, the progenitor of this format and an unimaginable NBA author, ever thought that it could get spun off into baseball. I’m sure that he didn’t assume it could get spun off into baseball by somebody who likes each popups and bunts an unhealthy quantity. However right here we’re. Talking of which, I do know what you’re pondering: What does Ben take into consideration the 2 catcher’s interference infield flies from this week? I believed they have been extra annoying than amusing, and that’s not what we’re about right here at 5 Issues. So let’s discuss a much more pleasant popup, plus some infield hits, fairly pitches, and thrilling sequence.
1. A SchwarbloopKyle Schwarber hits majestic dwelling runs. Typically they dangle within the air for an inconceivable size of time. Typically they get out of the park earlier than you may blink. Not solely is there a reputation for them – Schwarbombs – however Wawa even makes a drink named after them. You may’t get any extra Philadelphia than that.
Schwarber hit a type of magnificent bombs he’s identified for on Monday. Boy, did that factor take off:
However no matter. That’s boring! He hits plenty of homers. I need to discuss his single that went farther upward than it did ahead and ended up behind dwelling plate:
That’s a colossal blast of a brief popup. The afternoon solar in San Francisco is cruel, too, which explains how the fielders appeared like this:
That ball would possibly as effectively have been invisible, for all of the luck Patrick Bailey and Erik Miller had to find it. It solely narrowly prevented clocking Miller on its manner down. Matt Chapman was theoretically in cost, however he wasn’t actually. He simply received much less blinded than the opposite two and tried to make the very best of a nasty state of affairs.
Amazingly, the gusting wind took command and turned the ball again in towards dwelling plate. By the point it hit the bottom, with three Giants helplessly converging round it, the momentum had turned squarely towards foul territory:
Via his legs! That’s actually outstanding. Schwarber hit the ball manner up within the air and out in entrance of dwelling plate, and he and the wind mixed to roll it proper again over the plate after touching down truthful:
I can perceive how that is theoretically attainable. Nearly the entire power Schwarber imparted into the ball was directed straight up, so the ahead velocity of the ball was shortly killed by the wind, after which the wind began pushing it backward on that aircraft. By the point it hit the bottom, it was headed backward.
That’s the mathematical rationalization, however let me put it this fashion: You might play a baseball-themed model of HORSE all day and by no means hit that shot. “Excessive pop, land it 15 toes truthful, curl it again foul behind dwelling plate, by way of the catcher’s legs.” It’s the baseball equal of bouncing one off the ground, off the backboard, after which off the rim and in.
Ought to it have been a success? Eh, most likely not. It doesn’t seem like Bailey touched it earlier than it rolled foul, although I’m hardly sure:
But it surely’s not reviewable, and to be sincere with you, I didn’t need it to be reviewed. That ought to rely as a success on diploma of problem alone. It’s the least seemingly factor I noticed all week, perhaps all yr.
2. The Counsell Bowl
The Cubs and Brewers had already performed in Chicago this yr, however the first assembly in Milwaukee was circled on everybody’s calendar. Craig Counsell managed the Brewers for 9 years and oversaw their ascent to a perennial playoff contender and one of many best-run franchises in baseball. Then he left, for a division rival no much less.
The staff performed a tribute video earlier than the primary recreation of the sequence, however followers booed Counsell anyway. I don’t blame them; give it a couple of years, and I’m certain the great reminiscences will overwhelm the sting of betrayal, however seeing your man of their colours for the primary time is all the time going to engender some boos.
That apart, this sequence had every little thing, and I’m excited for this rivalry, already a hotly contested one, to grow to be among the best in baseball for the subsequent few years. These video games have been tense. Justin Steele and Robert Gasser pitched to a scoreless tie on Monday, and when Gasser flagged, the Brewer ’pen picked him up, prefer it did for therefore a few years below Counsell. The Cubs relievers… yeah, they didn’t try this. Mark Leiter Jr. and Hayden Wesneski got here in and gave up two walks and three hits, together with a back-breaking Willy Adames dwelling run, to show a detailed recreation right into a laugher.
Adames was practically the hero once more the subsequent day, when he broke by way of towards one more high-leverage Cubs reliever, Héctor Neris, with two outs within the backside of the ninth. His game-tying single rendered Ben Brown’s seven no-hit innings irrelevant and briefly put the Brewers again within the driver’s seat.
The Cubs bullpen has been terrible this yr; their relievers have a 4.48 ERA, and their nearer has as many walks as strikeouts. However their starters hold placing them able to win, and on Tuesday, the offense got here by way of with a five-run outburst within the tenth. There have been excessive tensions, assistant pitching coach ejections (Neris had a controversial balk that put a runner in scoring place for Adames), and massive defensive performs.
After developing empty towards Steele and Brown, the Brewers offense exploded for seven runs towards Cubs ace Shota Imanaga on Wednesday. Adames, as he all the time appears to be, was in the midst of it. The Milwaukee crowd went wild. The Brewers closed out the sequence yesterday by taking down Chicago’s bullpen but once more; after the Cubs rallied to tie the sport 4-4 within the eighth, Luke Little and Tyson Miller mixed to yield two runs and the sport. Miller, who relieved Little with two outs and Christian Yelich on third, promptly surrendered the decisive blast, a two-run Gary Sánchez dwelling run.
It’s robust to think about that each sequence these two groups play this yr will likely be so electrical. Counsell’s first return to Milwaukee was all the time going to be an occasion, and the groups being in first and second place on the time added to it. Three of the 4 video games have been tied late, and the opposite featured one of the vital thrilling pitchers within the recreation getting tattooed by the house staff. That is 2000s-era Yankees/Purple Sox stuff, two good groups whose followers don’t like one another, with Counsell’s defection upping the stakes for Milwaukee, a metropolis that always feels big-brothered by close by Chicago. The 2 groups play solely six extra instances this yr, and listening to that, I discover myself eager for the 19-games-vs.-each-divisional-opponent schedule to return again so we are able to see extra video games like these.
3. Sensible Baserunning
One merchandise wasn’t sufficient to seize that magnificent sequence. Cubs rookie Luis Vazquez has batted solely as soon as within the majors, and he struck out on 4 pitches and three swings at breaking balls within the grime. He’s organizational depth the staff hopes to not have to make use of, and actually they’ve already despatched him again to the minors. In Tuesday’s recreation, nevertheless, he confirmed off the sort of baseball IQ which you could’t educate.
Guys like Vazquez don’t usually get into high-leverage video games, however catcher Miguel Amaya was the designated runner for Chicago within the high of the tenth, and that appears like a job for Vazquez.
Mike Tauchman, the primary Cubs batter of the inning, lined a comebacker to Brewers nearer Trevor Megill.
Then, chaos ensued:
First issues first: I hope Megill is OK. He appears set to keep away from an IL stint and solely has a bruise to point out for it. But it surely was certainly a nasty bruise. Tauchman hit that ball exhausting and proper into Megill’s forearm. He instantly recoiled in ache; there was no manner he was fielding it:
Poor William Contreras was in a bind. He couldn’t exit and get the ball, clearly; you may’t run 50-ish toes in catcher’s gear, choose up a ball, change instructions, and make it again dwelling quicker than a speedy runner already rounding third. The maths simply doesn’t work. Abandon dwelling plate, and the run scores. All Contreras might do was level and hope that Vazquez didn’t understand the predicament:
Vazquez realized it. He was coasting till he received to 3rd, conserving his eye on the play and doing his job by getting a base nearer to scoring. Then he did the maths and hit the jets:
Each single Brewers fielder was caught between obligations. The nook infielders had runners headed for his or her bases; they have been roughly rooted to the spot once they noticed the ball hit Megill, as a result of if he recovered to discipline it, they wanted to be in place to obtain a throw. Adames headed to second in case the road drive received by way of, then stayed there as a result of somebody wanted to cease Tauchman from getting a free base. Brice Turang had began the play a step in entrance of the outfield grass, so he certainly wasn’t a part of any plan for who ought to discipline a ball on the pitcher’s mound.
Maybe somebody missed an project; perhaps Turang ought to have crashed for second whereas Adames charged the mound or one thing like that. Perhaps Owen Miller ought to have deserted first base as quickly as he noticed Megill hopping off, giving up on recording an out to safe the baseball. However none of these performs made a lot sense within the second. As a substitute, everybody simply pointed:
The logic is straightforward: If the ball hits the pitcher after which squirts away towards a fielder, it’s now that fielder’s duty, with both the pitcher or one other fielder changing them. However Megill was in no place to switch anybody, and the one fielder the ball was even remotely close to was Contreras, who additionally occurred to have the least abandonable base. The Brewers merely had no good performs.
With a much less alert runner (or base coach), it won’t have mattered. Miller really gave up on Tauchman pretty shortly and went for the ball. However Vazquez put the items collectively extra shortly and realized he might rating. So he did. A slower preliminary break might need left him out of place to attain. A extra conservative base coach might need screamed at him to cease. A extra aggressive protection might need restricted the injury to runners on first and third. However none of that occurred, and Vazquez capitalized.
This play ended up mattering way more as a result of it knocked Megill out of the sport than as a result of Vazquez scored. As I discussed up above, the Cubs scored 5 runs within the inning. Any variety of hits and walks would have pushed a runner in from third. However that doesn’t change the brilliance of the play. Taking each risk-free base the opposite staff provides you is a key a part of baserunning, and this was an unimaginable, albeit unorthodox, instance of what it seems like at its greatest.
4. GrayRod’s Proper/Proper Changeup
I’m a easy man. I just like the finer pleasures in life. A pleasant scorching espresso within the morning, a pleasant chilly lemonade within the afternoon, a pleasant dinner within the night, and right-on-right changeups thrown with impeccable command:
Oh my goodness, these are enjoyable. Grayson Rodriguez has a humiliation of riches with regards to pitch high quality, however his changeup might be his greatest. He makes use of it most steadily towards lefties, practically a 3rd of the time, and that’s simply good pitching technique. He has a nasty slider, someplace between gyro and sweeper, that righties battle to take care of. He cabinets that towards lefties, in fact, however he’s largely fastball/slider to righties.
That’s how changeups get used throughout all of baseball. It’s a form factor, principally; gradual pitches that break towards righties don’t work effectively in the event that they aren’t positioned effectively, so pitchers go for higher choices as a substitute. However in case you have a cambio nearly as good as Rodriguez’s, it could be a waste to fully give it up simply due to pesky platoon points.
He doesn’t break it out usually, however when he does, it’s steadily a factor of magnificence. That pitch to Vaughn Grissom appeared hittable proper till it took a pointy flip downward. In-breaking motion? Positive, perhaps, however that doesn’t matter when the batter swings over it by a foot.
It’s an incredible instrument for coping with hitters who cowl his fastball and aren’t biting on the slider. Julio Rodríguez has been heating up, however he was no match for this diving change:
That pitch is a superb out pitch, and that’s the way in which that Rodriguez most steadily will get righties with the changeup. However his command with it’s adequate that he can back-door it for a strike too:
Typically, he can tuck it within the zone with sufficient motion to overlook a bat anyway:
That is by no means going to be greater than an occasional mix-in. The fastball/slider combo is simply too good, and he even has a plus curveball for a down-breaking possibility if the slider isn’t working. However what an choice to have! Rodriguez seems like he’s fulfilling the promise he confirmed as a prospect, and these changeup punctuation marks are a giant a part of it.
5. Dying-Defying Bunts
Main leaguers have tried 9 bunts in two-strike counts this yr. They’ve gone predictably poorly. 4 have led to foul bunt strikeouts. One ended with a swinging bunt strikeout, and sure, it’s as embarrassing because it sounds:
One other one led to absolute insanity:
There’s a ton to unpack on that play, like whether or not it made sense for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to play the ball truthful and take a look at for the out at dwelling. However that’s not why I’m writing about this immediately, so let’s hold going. One other two two-strike bunts have became profitable sacrifices. The ninth? Properly, that one occurred on Wednesday, and that’s why I’m scripting this merchandise:
Was {that a} good plan? I really assume it was. Michael Siani had already bunted a ball foul earlier on this at-bat, when he was attempting to advance Masyn Winn to second. The Reds have been so fearful about Winn that they referred to as a pitchout, even. However Winn tried to steal second on 1-1 and received caught. That left Siani in a 1-2 gap, and the protection moved again accordingly. Jeimer Candelario had been taking part in outrageously shut initially of the at-bat:
That’s a fairly unfriendly defensive alignment, and Siani’s foul bunt was pushed down the primary final analysis. However with no runner on and two strikes, Candelario moved from crashing to taking part in the place the shortstop usually traces up:
You’re simply not gonna get a greater defensive alignment to assault with a bunt than that. The entire expanse of grass by third base is open for the taking! A ball wherever in that normal neighborhood might be going to land. And to not put too superb of some extent on it, however Siani is a nasty hitter. He has a 61 wRC+ this yr, with a pile of strikeouts and few extra-base hits or walks. He was in a 1-2 gap. This film often doesn’t finish effectively for the batter.
The query, then, is whether or not Siani might hold the ball truthful. He actually didn’t have to do something greater than that towards this gaping-void fashion of protection:
If you happen to assume {that a} truthful bunt will lead to a success half the time, the numbers really help his determination. He’s laid down 16 bunts this yr; 10 have been truthful and 6 have been foul. Within the majors, he has a .244 OBP after a 1-2 rely; 5 out of 16 works out to .313. Extra broadly, he has a profession .248 OBP general, and we venture him for a .293 mark the remainder of the way in which. That is the sort of probability you may’t cross up when you’re a great bunter getting performed passively. By the identical token, the Reds have been too informal with their protection right here. I’m undecided what number of outs they choose up in the long term with the near-overshift they deployed, however it could actually’t be sufficient to offset the truth that they’re letting a poor hitter in a nasty rely bunt his manner on. It’s one factor to shift towards a terrifying slugger, and a special factor totally to shift towards the most important league chief in sacrifice bunts.
Is Siani the long-term answer for the Cardinals in middle? Most likely not. He’s an excellent defender, however the man actually can’t hit main league pitching. I hope I’m improper, although, as a result of he’s a blast to look at each within the discipline and on the basepaths. Extra well-considered bunts like this one will definitely assist.
