Was this a good call to bring the center fielder to the infield just behind second base?
I've seen shallowing the outfield a lot in this situation, but not so much the 5 infielder setup (seems like a little league defense). It seems like that you have two choices, take away the bloop shot in the outfield (shallow the outfield) or take away the passed groundball (the 5th infielder).
Help me out with the pros and cons of the defensive setup and what the best call would be in this situation. I'm mostly trying to evaluate the Reds new manager.
2007-07-18 21:31:33 · 6 answers · asked by Trevin M 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
It depends on who the runner is at third. If its a fast runner you bring the outfielder in because if its hit even marginally deep the runner will score and having the extra infielder will take away any holes that a ground ball might find. If its a slower runner you leave him out there to try and gun down the runner at the plate and prevent the run from scoring by a sac fly. It would also depend on the hiiter, is he a guy who hits lots of groundballs or does he tend to hit the ball in the air. Is the pitcher a sinker guy who induces a lot of groundouts of does he give up a lot of fly balls? There is more to the situation than what you have given, so I can't fully answer this unless you say what players are involved, just naming the teams isn't enough...sorry.
2007-07-18 21:59:24 · answer #1 · answered by ajn4664_ksu 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A fly ball to the outfield and the runner on third tags up and scores, the game is over. In this case the manager is just playing the odds, believing there is more of a chance for a ground ball than a fly ball and he didn't want to get beat by a ground ball up the middle. In addition to bringing the center fielder to the infield they repositioned the two remaining outfielders to cover as much ground as they can and moved them in closer as well. There is no need to play the outfielders back to catch a fly ball and not able to throw the runner out when tagging from third base. Bottom line, it is a judgment call by the manager trying to keep the runner on third from scoring and it is not an unusual strategy, other managers would do this on a regular basis when you have a ground ball pitcher on the mound and a fast runner at third base.
2007-07-19 01:18:36 · answer #2 · answered by Frizzer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Alot of it would depend on the pitcher. If he is a ground ball pitcher, bring in another infielder. If he throws more fly balls, stick with the drawn in outfield. But with either decision, you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
2007-07-19 04:35:50 · answer #3 · answered by I play the game 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its basicly a make or break situation. runner scores and you lose. The pitcher also tries to throw the ball low for a ground ball out.
Did it work?
2007-07-18 22:24:33 · answer #4 · answered by pozitive thinking 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bottom line is it worked and my Braves lost in 15. So, it was a good call.
2007-07-18 23:55:03 · answer #5 · answered by ghouly05 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the con is if their is a power hitter coming up then he could hit it to the warning track and he would be good for a triple
2007-07-22 13:52:21 · answer #6 · answered by frank b 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋