Tim Beckham Doesn't Hustle, Gets Sent To AAA
- Thread starter Darnell's Son
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"Kiermaier busted out of the box giving his best effort – clearly aiming for two bases from the get-go. "
Yes he did hustle and Beckham did not, but It should be mentioned that the Kiermaier decision was horrible. It was a "bad" hustle play. He essentially made the last out at third seeing as a man was already there.
In my mind that has to be a "100% make it" decision. As well, it was the 2nd time in a week that Mookie cut him down so he really should have known. Don't mess with the Mook. It was horrible baserunning all the way around. "The worst baserunning of all time" Well, at least since Jeff Suppan.
Yes he did hustle and Beckham did not, but It should be mentioned that the Kiermaier decision was horrible. It was a "bad" hustle play. He essentially made the last out at third seeing as a man was already there.
In my mind that has to be a "100% make it" decision. As well, it was the 2nd time in a week that Mookie cut him down so he really should have known. Don't mess with the Mook. It was horrible baserunning all the way around. "The worst baserunning of all time" Well, at least since Jeff Suppan.
Kiermeir as much as said how dumb his base-running was on that play. If he bluff-goes, or pulls up, the run automatically scores.
“It wasn’t a good play on my part. I saw Mookie [Betts] had a long run and I picked the wrong time to be aggressive. If I didn’t do that, we would have had [Evan Longoria] up. It just wasn’t a good baseball play by me,” Kiermaier said. “It was a really good throw, but I shouldn’t have gone in the first place. I’ll learn from it, but I am really disappointed in my decision right there. I should know better, especially with our best player behind me.
“It wasn’t a good play on my part. I saw Mookie [Betts] had a long run and I picked the wrong time to be aggressive. If I didn’t do that, we would have had [Evan Longoria] up. It just wasn’t a good baseball play by me,” Kiermaier said. “It was a really good throw, but I shouldn’t have gone in the first place. I’ll learn from it, but I am really disappointed in my decision right there. I should know better, especially with our best player behind me.
First, thanks for reading!
Second, I somewhat disagree with your opinion here. Kiermaier, like all players, gets paid based on his stats, and a double is unquestionably better on the stat sheet than a single.
That said, Kiermaier's "horrible" decision shouldn't have even come into play. Beckham's lack of urgency caused the problem, not Kiermaier taking the extra base.
FWIW, I read this as Kiermaier being a good teammate, both in the clubhouse and in the media. He knows the team lost by one run and that Beckham got demoted because of it. Taking responsibility and being accountable says to me that Kiermaier is a good dude. I'd want him on my team.
As said in the piece, Beckham is probably already back in the dugout when Kiermaier is thrown out if Beckham is running hard on contact (with two outs) - and that is a "rule" of baseball.
I don't agree with this 100%.
Looking at the grand scheme of things, 1 double isn't going to make him millions extra in salary.
Plus, he would've had an extra RBI instead, which some people like even more than doubles, even if they have no control over RBI's.
Good article though and I agree with everyone. Hustling (especially with 2 outs) is what is always needed and taught right from the little ones updwards.
It was gracious of Kiermayer to try to divert some blame toward himself, but this is 100% on Beckham.
It took a near-perfect throw by Mookie to get Kiermayer at second; the Sox probably execute that play half the time. That's too great a risk with another runner in scoring position and Longoria on deck, but in most cases it's not a terrible risk to take with two outs. With the majority of right fielders, the odds of success are more like 70%, making it a good risk (maybe even under the circumstances, and certainly with a different batter on deck).
If I'm the manager, I'm not the least bit upset at Kiermayer for being a bit too aggressive there. It's not like the Rays were trailing by five runs, such that Kiermayer should have been playing it safe on the basepaths.
It took a near-perfect throw by Mookie to get Kiermayer at second; the Sox probably execute that play half the time. That's too great a risk with another runner in scoring position and Longoria on deck, but in most cases it's not a terrible risk to take with two outs. With the majority of right fielders, the odds of success are more like 70%, making it a good risk (maybe even under the circumstances, and certainly with a different batter on deck).
If I'm the manager, I'm not the least bit upset at Kiermayer for being a bit too aggressive there. It's not like the Rays were trailing by five runs, such that Kiermayer should have been playing it safe on the basepaths.
You can't judge this as an either/or situation. Each baserunner has responsibilities on any given play. Beckham failed completely. But so did Kiermayer. As the batter-runner, he has to be aware of the outs, who's on deck and where other runners might be.
Beckham's failure is easy to see, explain and understand. Kiermayer's failure is just as bad. It's not simply being aggressive; it's being inappropriately aggressive. If he bluffs like he's trying to stretch, he draws the throw, protects the runner coming home and keeps the rally going -- with their best hitter about to bat.
Think of it this way: Had Beckham scored, Kiermayer runs them out of an inning with Longoria coming to the plate, and everyone is on his case -- which is exactly what happened. There are times, in fact, where you can -- and should -- fault someone for "hustling."
Beckham's failure is easy to see, explain and understand. Kiermayer's failure is just as bad. It's not simply being aggressive; it's being inappropriately aggressive. If he bluffs like he's trying to stretch, he draws the throw, protects the runner coming home and keeps the rally going -- with their best hitter about to bat.
Think of it this way: Had Beckham scored, Kiermayer runs them out of an inning with Longoria coming to the plate, and everyone is on his case -- which is exactly what happened. There are times, in fact, where you can -- and should -- fault someone for "hustling."
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2 runs and that was Beckham's 2nd time in a week on the basepaths. He was going down even if Tampa won, I think.
Kevin Cash tried to address the poor base running tendencies in Spring Training. He made the team watch replays of all the blunders on the bases from 2015. He said most of them were made by 'over sliding' the base but making the base running a point of emphasis this year has not worked out so well!
Bill Ripken did a segment recently on MLB network about bad base running across baseball. I don't remember the exact time frame but I believe he was comparing the last six years to the previous six.. He showed that outs on the bases are up by over 1000 (not counting caught stealing or pick offs). I have to say that in watching a lot of other teams games the Sox seem certainly not to be the worst offenders in this dept over the last couple years. It has gotten bad. I wonder sometimes if players have ever even heard "don't make the first or last out at third base". It's a cliche but it has real meaning.
I think a goodly portion of that has to be the over sliding mentioned above coupled with replay. That stuff wasn't getting called very much without replay.
Doesn't mean that poor baserunning hasn't increased, but I doubt the numbers are really so much higher.
Doesn't mean that poor baserunning hasn't increased, but I doubt the numbers are really so much higher.
That's a good point but I really haven't noticed as much over sliding (or coming off the bag) this year as last. I think guys have become much better at staying attached to the base because of replay.
Well sure, and I agree. All I'm saying is that I think that the number of outs spiked when replay was first introduced and that changes in baserunning probably aren't as dramatic as the 1000 outs Ripken mentioned.
Assuming that you're correct that his analysis goes back a few years, of course.