After the win last night against the Orioles, Gardy was quoted as saying "I told him (Nishioka), rather than sacrifice in those situations, I'd like to see him bunt for a base hit." As I was listening to the game last night on my way to play pick-up basketball (I'm trying to revive my NBA dreams, naturally), I remember thinking to myself: "We are going to score in the first inning of every game that Denard Span gets on base to lead off the game!"
I absolutely loved the sacrifice bunt by Nishioka in that situation. Denard gets on - which he will a ton this year, especially with his patience and eye at the plate - and immediately steals second base. This should be automatic this year. We need to run more, as last year we not only did not do it, but we didn't really have the speed to do it. The more Span does it, the more comfortable he will be in his ability to read pitchers' pick-off moves (this is the only area that concerns me). It seemed like he was getting picked off or nearly picked off every other night last year.
So, Denard gets on, immediately steals second, and now we have a contact/speed guy in Nishioka at the plate with nobody out and the M&M boys on deck. I disagree with Gardy there and say that I hope Nishi lays one down every time there. Don't even worry about bunting for a hit - just get it down. He has the speed out of the box that he might even beat some of those out just by accident, but just get it down and go from there.
Now we have our leadoff man on third with one out and our best contact/best all-around hitter at the plate. If we don't score in the first inning of 50% of the games this year just by this formula, I think I'm gonna be a little disappointed. Even if Mauer rolls over on a fastball on the outer half of the plate, we'll still get on the scoreboard first. This will help our pitcher settle in from there, and we're off to the races!
I think it's ok to be a little bit predictable in the first inning to make sure we get the lead first. With Nishioka hitting in the 2-hole, he can afford to take a couple of pitches to allow Span to take second while avoiding the pitchout. With all the speed and contact in the first 3 in the lineup, Morneau should have a hayday cleaning up the mess that the top of the lineup will leave. I expect big things from the top end of our lineup this year!
In the time it took you to write this post, Denard Span was picked off of first base three more times.
ReplyDeleteSpan got picked off 9 times last year, which I know is ridiculous. I think Denard was so frustrated at the plate last year and had put so much pressure on himself that it really affected his baserunning and fielding. Let's hope that a few months off has him refocused and confident again. If there's a guy on the team that will do whatever it takes to improve a weakness, I think it's Mr. Span.
ReplyDeleteAt least if Span doesn't put it together this season, we have a built-in replacement in Revere. I was pretty disappointed when we traded Hardy away, because what if Nishi or (especially)Casilla isn't the answer up the middle? We don't have an adequate replacement on the roster.
ReplyDeleteRevere is excitement in a bottle, that's for sure. I'm really looking forward to a time when, if he puts it back together, Span can move back to a corner OF position and those two can roam that huge TF together. You're right about the infield, though. I'm not sure what I will think if/when Tolbert or Hughes become everyday players.
ReplyDeleteTolbert is heir to the Empire of Punto. It's a foregone conclusion at this point.
ReplyDeleteHughes hit his 6th homer of the spring today....watch out, I sense a year for Hughes this year very similar to Valencia's last year....
ReplyDeleteI like it Nick! Finally, some positivity around here!
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