Red Sox Defensive Gifs
- Thread starter Sprowl
- Start date
is it just me or did devers play that throw really oddly?The scouting report on Mookie's arm does not appear to have reached the National League
What was odd about it? The throw was off-line to his left so he stepped off the bag to square up to it and keep everything (ball, runner) in front of him to make the play. His only alternative would have been to hold the bag and try to catch the throw away from his body (stretching his glove out to his left). That brings a greater risk of whiffing on it since he'd be trying to quickly bring it down to make the tag...eyes come off the ball early, hand starts moving toward the base to make the tag, ball goes right by him. And given where Porcello was, the throw gets by both of them to the fence and the runner stands a good chance of scoring.
Looks like he played it exactly the way you want him to do it.
Yeah, the initial camera angle makes it look like he played it oddly...up until you see the second angle and realize that the throw was offline.
I'd say it actually contributes to the defensive excellence of the gif. Would watch again.
Devers did a good job on the receiving end- the second angle shows the runner having to go almost diagonally to the home plate side of the bag to try to avoid Devers. The throw beat the runner by so much Devers had a chance to compensate for it being a bit off line, and he handled it well.
After looking at it a few times, I'm impressed with his awareness to really put his hand on the bag intentionally and safely rather than just throwing it down and potentially jamming his hand/wrist against the bag.
Quick release, too.
Apparently Swihart can play 3B. Catcher skills in full use on this play.
and perfect throw to the outside corner of the bag right at the chest. Everything about that play is pretty.
I like Devers enough that I don't want to see him lose playing time when he's healthy again, but I'm interested in Swihart's ability to play third. I guess we'll know more in a couple weeks.
Yes, it will be interesting to see if Blake gets exposed over the course of the next week or so. But Sunday he showed good hands, range and strong arm. So far, so good.
Few players can make this catch. Fewer can make it without injuring themselves hitting the wall afterwards.
Watching this angle, I'm surprised he didn't hurt his ankle or knee on that last lunging step before hitting the dirt.
Few players can make this catch. Fewer can make it without injuring themselves hitting the wall afterwards.
@pantsparty Thanks for posting! Best angle I've seen. Would love to see it from the crack of the bat.
I kept thinking he was going to turn and slam into the wall with his right side. It almost looked that way until he changed his mind once he hit the ground. Impossible to do that. Maybe he protects the ball better the way he crashed. Our center fielder for the foreseeable.
He takes off in pretty much a straight line almost immediately
Full video I pulled the clips from - https://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/mp4/2018/07/29/2323927783/1532890219785/asset_2500K.mp4
That's just astonishing
He takes off in pretty much a straight line almost immediately
Full video I pulled the clips from - https://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/mp4/2018/07/29/2323927783/1532890219785/asset_2500K.mp4
I seriously don't know how his right knee and ankle survived that last lunge. I almost feel like I should go have my doctor check mine out, just because I watched it.
I still don't understand the 42% even if you took the wall out of it. I just don't. I feel like the formula needs to be tweaked or something.
Unless the replay is deceiving, it looks like a good jump, straight shot right off the bat, full speed into a full dive. The angle and the wall should just be bonus points.
Unless the replay is deceiving, it looks like a good jump, straight shot right off the bat, full speed into a full dive. The angle and the wall should just be bonus points.
I wonder how you could measure the probability of an out on that pitch.
Runner's Jump/pitcher's delivery/ pitch location/catcher's throw/fielder's catch and tag.
There's defensive metrics for this, right?
Runner's Jump/pitcher's delivery/ pitch location/catcher's throw/fielder's catch and tag.
There's defensive metrics for this, right?
Pedro once got an out from the dugout.
Taunted the player on first base got being too scared to steal. Next pitch was a pitch-out and Pedro laughed at the guy, still from the dugout of course, as he walked off the field.
I want to see the metric for that.
The catch and release by Swihart looks incredibly quick. He got that out quick and the throw, as you said, was absolutely perfect.
Perfect throw and tag by Swihart and Kinsler.
Going back a couple games, I really loved the execution on this rundown:
(Sorry for the Benny Hill speed-up; this was the gif I could find.)
My favorite part was Xander calling for Leon to keep coming up the line so he could stay by third to quick-tag the runner ambling over...followed by the crisp execution of the rest of the rundown. Easier to see in the video here:
(Sorry for the Benny Hill speed-up; this was the gif I could find.)
My favorite part was Xander calling for Leon to keep coming up the line so he could stay by third to quick-tag the runner ambling over...followed by the crisp execution of the rest of the rundown. Easier to see in the video here:
Credit for that has to go to Cora for having them prepared, too. Obviously it's the players that execute, but that play doesn't happen last year.
Is this satire?
EDIT: To clarify, it strikes me as highly unlikely that a change of managers would magically make a play like that possible. Marginally more likely, perhaps, if the new manager has a better approach to working on rundowns in spring training. But every team practices plays like this, and given that basic level of preparedness, it's hard for me to believe that positive outcomes aren't about 95% contingent on the alertness and good instincts of the individual players involved.
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There's a team of scienticians working on trying to figure this out as we speak.
I'm not sure what the issue is. Are you suggesting that Cora's influence isn't a major factor, or just calling out my post for being lazy about how I expressed it. If it's the latter, I apologize. I was going to elaborate more but deleted it because I wasn't expecting resistance, rather someone else me get back it up with more eloquence.
But if it's the former, I'm confused. What else would be a bigger factor in the equation over last year where sloppy play was met with indifference by the manager. Maybe it's too much of a leap, and I'm willing to be educated otherwise, but wouldn't Cora and a return to fundamentals and preparedness be the most likely cause?
But if it's the former, I'm confused. What else would be a bigger factor in the equation over last year where sloppy play was met with indifference by the manager. Maybe it's too much of a leap, and I'm willing to be educated otherwise, but wouldn't Cora and a return to fundamentals and preparedness be the most likely cause?
What evidence do we have that "sloppy play was met with indifference by the manager" last year, or that Cora has brought a "return to fundamentals and preparedness"? I know we've heard that Cora has brought a more sophisticated approach to integrating analytics and scouting, and that he's hired a really outstanding coaching staff. But I wasn't aware that we had a solid basis for thinking Farrell was deficient in the areas you're talking about.
For that matter, Butterfield is considered to be excellent both in terms of technicals and communication with the players, and was scooped up by the Cubs who are obviously known forward thinkers these days.
I don't know enough about Goodwin to say much about him.
Getting that after 3/4 of a season of Nunez was so goddamn refreshing. A decade+ of Pedroia over there spoiled the hell out of us.
Let's also give Pearce credit for the way he finished the play. So cool that our second-best defensive 1B is that good.
Nice to have a defender at 2B that evokes Pedroia, but I wonder, does Pedroia actually make that play? I mean pre-knee injury, of course. I assume he'd have been shaded up the middle like Kinsler was so he gets to it but the way Kinsler spun and threw on the run felt like something Pedroia couldn't have pulled off, at least not as fluidly.
Awesome to see. The whole game was fun to watch.
Awesome to see. The whole game was fun to watch.
Here's a somewhat similar play from 2014:
https://www.mlb.com/video/pedroias-great-play/c-33071353
Note that the throw doesn't make it to first in the air, and does require a nice scoop from Carp, but OTOH it's more accurate than Kinsler's, which almost pulled Pearce off the bag. In general I would expect that to be the difference between Pedroia and Kinsler on plays like that -- Kinsler will get a bit more on the throw, but nobody makes off-balance throws as accurate as Pedroia's. Nobody I've ever seen, anyway.
a few days late, but FWIW, Swihart's pop time was 1.92 and arm strength was measured at 85.1 on the caught stealing, according to Statcast.
Also, props to Kinsler on that play for keeping his glove back rather than reaching for the ball. Had Jeter been more like Kinsler, Roberts would probably have been out.
Athletic subscription required unfortunately, but JBJ recently ranked 10 of his best catches.
https://theathletic.com/454771/2018/08/02/jackie-bradley-jr-ranks-the-10-best-catches-of-his-career/
https://theathletic.com/454771/2018/08/02/jackie-bradley-jr-ranks-the-10-best-catches-of-his-career/
A nice compilation, and great to see Jackie explain each one.
But I was a little surprised that this one, from a couple of weeks ago, did not make the list. At the time, I was shocked that he was able to run this one down, going straight back with a leap at the end.
If anyone wants to know what other players think of JBJ's fielding ability, watch the guy on second base.
He doesn't just "respect" JBJ's abilities; he very quickly realizes that he knows that JBJ is gonna catch it and runs back to the bag.