Skin Blues wrote:Patman wrote:EJaggit wrote:
The discomfort that Happ had when Davis was on first cost is a run in result costed us the game, sure it was hitting but they had more things going for them, one was speed and mainly it was timely hitting for them. Both teams pitched great, however I question john Gibbons for not bringing in a guy like Liriano to keep batters off... Indians knew what Estrada had. They knew 100%. Liriano couldn't muffled them or would've have been worse. Oh well.
Agreed. The thing about speed on the basepaths is that you don't need to steal a base or take an extra bag to be effective. Just the threat of it has effects.
It's similar to how the threat of a shooter in basketball changes a defense even if that player did not make any shots.
The net effect of having a burner on first base is non-existent if not negative. Many times having a runner like that on first hurts the batter by making them take pitches they otherwise wouldn't. Yes, Davis stole a base, but so much more went into that run than Davis' base running. In chronological order: Roberto Perez drew a walk, J.A. Happ threw a wild pitch, and Francisco Lindor hit a single that scored the runner. That inning, in all likelihood, would have turned out the exact same if Davis had struck out rather than hit into a fielder's choice and stole second. Bottom line: we didn't hit, they did a better job managing their pitching staff. Their base-running was a non-factor, especially when you consider their other two steal attempts were Crisp stealing second and being stranded on base in game 2, and Lindor getting caught to end the 8th inning of game 3.
"I only included innings 1-6 (to try and eliminate pinch runners, elite relievers, late and close-game strategies, etc.) and batters who occupied the 1-7 slots."
