Robert Edwards-Imagn Photos
Welcome to a different version of 5 Issues I Preferred (Or Didn’t Like) This Week. With the primary month of main league baseball within the books, I’m settling into the rhythm of the common season. Baseball writing within the morning, baseball on TV within the afternoon, and normally baseball on TV within the night. Sometimes, I’ll skip two of these and go to the ballpark as an alternative. The precise baseball is falling right into a rhythm, too. The Dodgers have the most effective file in baseball, Aaron Decide is the most effective hitter, and Paul Skenes is the most effective pitcher, similar to all of us anticipated. However a part of the rhythm of baseball is that the sudden occurs a number of occasions a day, and that’s what 5 Issues is for. With a nod of recognition and due to Zach Lowe of The Ringer for the column format, let’s begin the shenanigans.
1. Stopping at Third
The mathematics is fairly simple: A double with runners on second and third scores each runners. Typically it even brings house a man standing on first firstly of the play, too. Final week, although, issues received bizarre. First, Jacob Stallings flat out demolished a ball off the precise subject wall, however Hunter Goodman didn’t have the learn:
Hey, that occurs. There are a couple of performs like this within the majors yearly. The batter can tear across the bases as a lot as he desires, however runners must cease and ensure it’s a success first. Goodman couldn’t ensure that the ball would hit the wall, and with nobody out, he fairly fairly performed it secure. Blake Dunn performed the carom completely, and once more, with no one out, Goodman didn’t attempt his luck at house.
However then it occurred once more. On Saturday, Nolan Jones laced a line drive to proper middle, and Steven Kwan solely received one base out of it:
Kwan is a wonderful baserunner, and it’s truthful to assume that he thought-about the context right here. With the low-strikeout Guardians offense working, reaching third base with nobody out is sort of nearly as good as scoring. Reaching third with just one out is nice, too. And so Kwan tagged up at second, planning on advancing if Wilyer Abreu made the catch:
Although each of these selections appear completely affordable to me, it was wild to see them occur consecutively. A runner failing to attain from second on a double on back-to-back days? That occurred on consecutive days twice in all of 2024. It’s not remarkable, but it surely had my antennae up. Then I went to Sunday’s Giants-Rangers sport, and 5 Issues favourite Jake Burger did this:
This one would possibly require a bit extra clarification. Joc Pederson hardly has blazing pace, and but he cruised into second. There was by no means any likelihood of a fly out, so tagging up wasn’t essential. However dangerous reads can occur wherever:
Extra particularly, Burger simply didn’t commit quickly sufficient. When he noticed Chapman retreating and diving, he put it in impartial, however he spent a bit of too lengthy chopping his toes earlier than placing it again in gear:
Look, it’s not the tip of the world. Burger scored two batters later. Goodman and Kwan additionally scored. However three of those in three days? You don’t see that each… uh, each three-day span, I assume. In actual fact, these three are the primary 3 times that this specific play has occurred all 12 months. It didn’t occur on back-to-back-to-back days at any level final season. Possibly that’s what Burger and third base coach Tony Beasley have been speaking about after the play:
2. When the Lesser Lights Shine
The Dodgers are a juggernaut due to their peerless array of top-end expertise. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman? Will Smith doesn’t even bat within the prime 4? They’ve what number of aces? What number of elite closers? The easiest that Los Angeles can provide is best than anybody else’s. However these guys can’t be on the plate or on the mound on a regular basis, and when the Dodgers are scuffling, the underside of the lineup can really feel like a headwind. The Dodgers scored solely seven runs of their collection in opposition to Texas a couple of weeks in the past, for instance, whereas the 7-9 spots within the lineup went 5-for-29 with no homers and no walks. A type of hits was even from Smith pinch-hitting. Hey, dangerous stretches occur to everyone, and that is the underside of the lineup for a cause.
However when these elements of the Los Angeles lineup warmth up, be careful. Instantly after that Texas collection, the Dodgers scored 67 runs of their subsequent eight video games, and that span included a sport wherein Skenes shut them out. That’s roughly 10 runs per sport within the different seven. And also you higher imagine that the underside of the order received concerned. Their 7-9 batters hit .333/.404/.526 in these video games. Andy Pages slashed .600/.619/1.050 throughout that stretch, and Enrique Hernández had a .958 OPS.
When the underside of the order is clicking like that – and I make no guarantees concerning the sustainability, to be clear – the Dodgers really feel fully unstoppable. Dealing with the highest of their order is tough even when the remainder of the staff isn’t hitting. When it’s a must to face them extra actually because nobody else is making outs, and with runners on base as a result of, once more, nobody else is making outs? Good luck. You possibly can’t make a residing getting the three-headed MVP monster out. These guys received their {hardware} for a cause. They’re going to supply. When that manufacturing is driving within the backside of the order, or getting pushed in by the underside of the order, the Dodgers offense is an absolute terror.
3. Off-Stability Miracles
Don’t do that at house:
The angles make no sense right here. Nolan Arenado caught that ball operating sideways slightly than towards house, and he lunged towards proper subject to snare it, placing him in a horrible place to go to the plate. Jackson Chourio is an elite baserunner. With no pressure play, even an ideal throw won’t have been sufficient. However with a one-run lead, one of many biggest defenders of our era did what he does greatest: improvise.
Watch his toes as he performs this one:
There was no method to put his decrease physique into the throw, as a result of his toes have been carrying him throughout the infield. Strive operating left and placing some energy on a right-handed throw. You’ll notice how unnatural it’s. There’s no a part of your physique which you can rotate for additional energy; it’s like throwing from a seated place, solely worse, as a result of as an alternative of merely not serving to you out, your momentum on this case goes in the other way, making it more durable to throw precisely.
Arenado, naturally, hit Pedro Pagés within the glove. Due to course he did; he’s Nolan Arenado. He’s all the time been a wonderful off-platform thrower. A lot of his defensive highlights contain unconventional arm angles or unusual throwing motions. However even for a terrific defender, this one was sensational. The printed didn’t have an ideal snapshot of the second he launched the ball, however not less than there’s this:
Yeah, that doesn’t appear like somebody throwing the ball precisely. The unsuitable leg is planted, the unsuitable shoulder is ahead, and are his eyes closed?? I feel he was most likely simply blinking, however after that magic trick, I’m keen to imagine that Arenado can do something defensively. What a gem.
4. The Huge Bopping A’s
The A’s got here into the 2025 season with the potential for a positional logjam. Brent Rooker, their greatest hitter, performs DH. Tyler Soderstrom, their prime decide within the 2020 draft, has migrated from catcher to first base on the lookout for a defensive house. Nick Kurtz, their prime decide a 12 months in the past, performs first base and hit so nicely within the minors that the A’s merely needed to name him up. That’s three guys for 2 spots – one thing needed to give.
There are many methods to deal with this, lots of them dangerous. The A’s might do some sort of gentle platooning, having Kurtz again up Soderstrom whereas additionally letting the newcomer get at-bats in opposition to some righties with a view to give Rooker a time without work. They may make Soderstrom a part-time catcher, regardless of loads of proof that it’s a poor long-term match. They may put Rooker again into the outfield, although he’s by no means been good on the market and simply turned 30. The A’s selected none of those choices, although. As an alternative, they picked the highest-upside one and informed Soderstrom to be taught left subject in a rush.
That’s a loopy transfer for the previous catcher. His first skilled look within the outfield was two weeks in the past. His reads want some work. He appears tentative on the market, and who might blame him? He’s not used to seeing the ball from this angle, and he hasn’t even had an offseason to work on it. He doesn’t have the pace to make up for dangerous jumps or routes – he’s not gradual, however he’s additionally not quick.
So what? So long as having to be taught a defensive place on the fly doesn’t mess along with his confidence on the plate, the potential advantages of it might be nicely value the price. The A’s want to determine whether or not they can play with Rooker, Soderstrom, and Kurtz all in the identical lineup, and the alignment they settled on looks like the most effective long-term resolution. They completely needed to attempt it, and I’m pleased that they ripped the Band-Support off now slightly than kicking the can down the street.
Soderstrom even made a pleasant catch on Wednesday! Check out this magnificence:
Awkward? Positive. However athletic, too, and that’s a extremely troublesome play; it’s not precisely the place you’d anticipate to run into a sequence hyperlink fence. He truly received tousled within the fence a bit on his leap, which ended up making the catch simpler, since he might need overshot the ball in any other case. I don’t assume he’s going to win a Gold Glove anytime quickly, however for a man who received moved to the outfield extra just lately than I’ve put gasoline in my automobile, it was a heck of an effort.
Will this all work out? I don’t know. It hasn’t actually clicked but – an inning after he made that catch, the A’s introduced in Seth Brown to pinch-run after which play protection. When Seth Brown (profession Outs Above Common within the outfield: -9) is coming in for protection, you realize one thing bizarre is going on. However kudos to the A’s for attempting to squeeze three first base/DH varieties into their lineup, and kudos to Soderstrom for going together with it.
5. Stroll-offs
Everybody loves a walk-off, except it’s in opposition to their staff. The thrill! The sudden-death drama! The ball slowly bouncing towards the pitcher because the runner sprints for first. Wait, have been you guys not considering of the identical walk-off that I used to be?
There’s simply a lot to like about this play. First, I like how dedicated Luke Jackson was to changing that batted ball into an out. Now, ought to he have been? Positively not! Watch this snippet of the play, think about that you just don’t know the way it ends, and attempt to guess the place the ball goes:
Proper subject, proper? That’s what you guessed? Good. Now, bear in mind once I praised Arenado for his potential to make troublesome, off-platform throws? Jackson shouldn’t be Arenado. Falling away, off the unsuitable leg, sidearm? No likelihood. Take a look at how far off the bag Burger went attempting to get this ball:
Jackson ought to have eaten it, or not less than let third baseman Josh Smith deal with it. After his ill-fated effort, it was only a matter of how far Heliot Ramos might run earlier than the Rangers recovered the ball. And about that:
Poor Burger. Once you dive on the infield like that, you’re basically taking your self out of the play if you happen to don’t snare the ball. However there was no backup. Adolis García flat out misplaced the ball. He was taking part in deep and shaded towards triples alley in proper middle, however he took an abysmal path to play the carom, staying so deep within the outfield that he left Burger on an island. What number of first basemen dive after which additionally throw the ball from 60 toes deep within the outfield on the identical play?
From there, it simply received worse. Jackson received up from his sprawling tumble and ambled ineffectually into foul territory. I don’t know each staff’s infield rotations, however my cash says Jackson was imagined to be the first backup at third base. It’s an essential spot to again up; when an infielder tosses the ball into proper subject attempting to make a play at first, the subsequent throw is sort of all the time a protracted one from foul territory in proper to 3rd base.
Smith then gambled, absolutely relying on both Jackson or left fielder Dustin Harris to be there backing him up. He stayed on the bag for so long as potential, hoping to tag Ramos out, as an alternative of leaving the bottom to play the ball. I can perceive why; a runner on third with nobody out is sort of as dangerous a scenario for the Rangers as what truly occurred. The draw back is theoretically small, too. With the ball having been in play for therefore lengthy, and the motion so distant, absolutely one of many two gamers tasked with backing up can be there to get the ball if it skipped previous Smith. Solely, nope:
In actual fact, Ramos inadvertently led Smith to take that danger by getting a nasty learn at second base. He, like just about everybody within the stadium, noticed the ball skip previous Burger and assumed it was a one-base error. That’s how that sort of play – throwing error on a ball that was fielded close to the mound – normally ends. The correct fielder performs it off the wall and throws it to 3rd, whereas the baserunner cruises into second. However when García didn’t present and Burger needed to make the play, Ramos picked up the third base coach and stepped on the gasoline in a rush:
One participant making a mistake? That’s sort of boring. I’ve seen that play one million occasions. However the extra gamers that make errors, the extra entertained I get. And on this one, seemingly half the Rangers on the sphere and in addition the one Large on base goofed up. That’s how you find yourself with a walk-off that travels precisely one foot within the air, with a -66 diploma launch angle. I used to be at this sport, as I discussed earlier, and I misplaced my thoughts when this occurred. I simply couldn’t comprehend the way it might’ve been potential. However then, across the time Ramos crossed third base, I ended monitoring who was imagined to be the place and simply watched the fantastic celebration:
