Basically what the title says. I am from Denmark, know very little about baseball except the basic rules and that the Rockies are awesome.
In Denmark nobody cares about baseball, so I am looking for someone to talk too. Will you talk with me?
Basically what the title says. I am from Denmark, know very little about baseball except the basic rules and that the Rockies are awesome.
In Denmark nobody cares about baseball, so I am looking for someone to talk too. Will you talk with me?
Well I only know one play. So how about the sac fly.
https://youtu.be/drl5U6suAvs
Like do you plan to make the play in advance ? Or is it a call the player on base makes on the spot ?
This was very likely planned imo. The state of the game is 0-0, 1 out, man on third, full count. A full count is a ‘pitchers count’ (as opposed to a hitters count) which means it’s slightly harder for the batter to be productive as they have less wiggle room in the count. Therefore, the jays have to be cautious here not to try for too much.
Which is why the sac fly is perfect. The batter just needs to elevate the ball and make strong contact, much easier than getting on base. If you look closely at the batters swing you can see it has a slight upward trajectory to try and get that lift. In contrast, compare the swing to this ground ball with a flatter swing : https://youtu.be/sMKFLZxg1B0
Of course if they are able to get a hit that’s better, but trading one out for a run is almost always worth it.
Is the elevation of the bat and trajectory something you notice on the live swing or on the replay ? Because it took me a couple of times just to see the bat in the swing.
Also I understood absolutely nothing of this haha:
A full count is a ‘pitchers count’ (as opposed to a hitters count) which means it’s slightly harder for the batter to be productive as they have less wiggle room in the count.
Here is what I think it means:
It is a full count because all the pitchers has cycled through and they are on the last pitcher/first pitcher again?
Why this results in the batter having less wiggle room I cannot figure out.
In the live swing you can get a broad impression of the swing but mostly it’s from replays, especially in slow-mo, cause yeah these guys can swing it crazy fast!
Haha so the count matters A LOT in an at bat. 0 balls, 2 strikes (0-2) is a pitchers count because the pitcher only needs to throw one more strike to get the batter out. Thus the batter can’t really swing for the fences bc that has a high chance of missing AND they have to be both aggressive, bc they don’t want to get struck out looking, but also selective bc they don’t want to get struck out swinging. The pitcher has many mind games available in a pitchers count. A 2 ball, 0 strikes count (2-0) on the other hand is a hitters count bc they can, for example, swing for the fences and even if they miss the count is still in their favor (2-1).
Thus, a full count (3-2) is a pitchers count bc they have all the mind games available, tho it’s slightly better for the batter than a 0-2 bc if the pitcher misses they get a walk.
However, in this situation the batter doesn’t really want to walk because that would not advance the runner and it would open up the possibility of a double play ending the inning as it creates a force out at second and at first for the next batter.
Does that make more sense?
That makes total sense ! And now your previous comment also makes sense ! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain all of this to me :)
But wouldn’t it be just as difficult to hit a high ball as just a clean ball ? I mean if you are so good as to being able to choose your hit, you might as well choose to hit it clean into the and get a run out of it as well ?
Also I heard the Red Sox haven’t signed anyone yet in this round as the only team. What’s up with that ?
Yay I’m glad! Of course :)
It opens up options more than anything else. A hitter can be trying for a high ball, and if it’s a hit, yay, but if it’s just a fly out, also yay bc that gets the man on third home. But yes 100% if you are able to get a hit that is better than a sac fly.
Hmmm the Red Sox trade decisions baffle me honestly. We are (hopefully) trying very hard to resign Bregman who will not be cheap, so maybe we are saving for him?? And our biggest weakness last year (besides the errors) was starting pitching. I know we picked up some pitchers already (Sonny Gray being the most notable) so perhaps John Henry has decided he is done spending (wouldn’t put it past him).
Also mostly unrelated and probably not much to discuss with this play lol but it’s so fun I had to share https://youtu.be/AelWuluKiJQ
lol what a catch. Sucks to be a dodger in that case :p I’m sure they could almost taste it :p
And sure I get it, it is better to have two possible positive outputs. I’m sure I underestimate how easy (read hard) it is to actually hit the ball, for not to speak of making any specific kind of hit.
Yeah don’t know what to make of it either. Just heard it on a podcast and thought it was weird. But I hope you’re right.
We just signed Michael Lorenzen. Read he was a former Red. You know him ?
Ikr! Good lol. I’m not a fan of the dodgers honestly bc it feels like they are trying to buy wins. Which is what everyone is doing but idk they have pulled so many tricks that it just feels kinda scummy.
Yeah I read somewhere that hitting a baseball is one of the hardest acts in professional sports. Seems hard to measure that but I’d lowkey believe it.
Oo I don’t know him. I googled him tho and he seems like a good pick up! Do the Rockies have a pitching problem as well?
Personally I don’t have anything for or against the Dodgers. But I do get the sentiment of not liking big money. Like when some Russian oligarch buys a soccer team or an oil sheik buys a pro cycling team and just poors billions into it. It feels scummy af.
Seems hard to measure yeah, and buy what matrix do you measure it ? Racing up a mountain is also pretty hard :p
I also misread. He used to be a Reds, which incidentally is not the same as Red Sox at all :p but yes, yes we do have a very big pitching problem. Our best starting pitcher has an ERA of like 5 :/