Re: 9-3 putouts
Fine, then the pitcher can cover. Whoever. Right fielders in the MLB rarely have a snowball's chance of being able to get that batter-runner out, but it's more than possible in this game. I'm referring to the outfielder's timing more than anything else. There is a reason the first baseman doesn't cover in actual games, and that's because they can't get them out.
This is true for most singles hit right to outfielders in these games. Whereas in baseball a hitter can take a nice wide turn around first base, sometimes your player actually has to run through the bag here instead of doing that tight rounding maneuver the game automatically initiates.
The three biggest culprits are:
1) Standard outfielder pre-positioning.
2) Defenders' ability to charge a shot hit to them.
3) Limited of slow-up/friction on the grass.
But let's drop all of that for a moment and talk about real baseball. You don't think a player will cover first base on a base hit to right field? A slow-moving ground ball that the first and second basemen are trying to get to? Sure, nobody but possibly the pitcher will get there. But we're talking about throw-outs to first base, and that's pretty much legitimately impossible in real life unless you're talking about a hard shot one- or two-hopper to right field, one of those that goes by the first baseman before he has time to make a second step toward the ball, and one where he realizes that his momentum should otherwise redirect to first base. Yes, I think it's really extremely likely that he can and would cover first base in a scenario like that, unless he is shifted way over because of a right-handed pull hitter.
Watch this video and tell me what the common trends are of the throw-outs that you see:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q2bdu7W3kTc" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The majority of them are:
1) Right-handed batters (farther from 1B and not as in position to run after their follow-through).
2) Pitchers (often not meant for their speed, or ability to get out of the box, and outfielders tend to play them shallow and over toward oppo side).
3) Hard line shots (no chance for the grass to slow the ball up, and heck some of them are on turf; also watch the first baseman react to the "base hit" and defer toward the bag). Also worth noting that there is a ground ball that sneaks through where there is a throw-out, but that was at Chase Field which has the fastest natural grass of any ballpark.
4) Outfielders charging in a do-or-die scenario (you'll see many flail and catch off-center, and a lot could have gone wrong for them; these are not natural charges and this would often cost them on any other regular play, including a throw to home).
5) Outfielders with cannon arms.
Literally almost all of these things need to happen, and the result still becomes a bang-bang play. The reality is that if you had a moderate speed lefty up there hitting a semi-hard ground ball to a regularly-positioned outfielder, even if the outfielder makes a half-decent attempt to get the runner out with a player covering the bag, I bet you that batter-runner could even round first base and not have any issue whatsoever getting back to the bag.
The biggest issue of all of these by far is the outfield positioning. Go to a ball game and make note of how deep (and off the lines for the most part) outfielders stand against every hitter. I might do that for a wishlist case when I go to a Giants game at the end of next month.
This, much like bunts and many other oddities, are fixing broken parts but are not addressing the whole. There is still a lot of reconstructing in this game that is needed that aren't just these simple workarounds, because they aren't acknowledging the bigger issue(s).
Fine, then the pitcher can cover. Whoever. Right fielders in the MLB rarely have a snowball's chance of being able to get that batter-runner out, but it's more than possible in this game. I'm referring to the outfielder's timing more than anything else. There is a reason the first baseman doesn't cover in actual games, and that's because they can't get them out.
This is true for most singles hit right to outfielders in these games. Whereas in baseball a hitter can take a nice wide turn around first base, sometimes your player actually has to run through the bag here instead of doing that tight rounding maneuver the game automatically initiates.
The three biggest culprits are:
1) Standard outfielder pre-positioning.
2) Defenders' ability to charge a shot hit to them.
3) Limited of slow-up/friction on the grass.
But let's drop all of that for a moment and talk about real baseball. You don't think a player will cover first base on a base hit to right field? A slow-moving ground ball that the first and second basemen are trying to get to? Sure, nobody but possibly the pitcher will get there. But we're talking about throw-outs to first base, and that's pretty much legitimately impossible in real life unless you're talking about a hard shot one- or two-hopper to right field, one of those that goes by the first baseman before he has time to make a second step toward the ball, and one where he realizes that his momentum should otherwise redirect to first base. Yes, I think it's really extremely likely that he can and would cover first base in a scenario like that, unless he is shifted way over because of a right-handed pull hitter.
Watch this video and tell me what the common trends are of the throw-outs that you see:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q2bdu7W3kTc" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The majority of them are:
1) Right-handed batters (farther from 1B and not as in position to run after their follow-through).
2) Pitchers (often not meant for their speed, or ability to get out of the box, and outfielders tend to play them shallow and over toward oppo side).
3) Hard line shots (no chance for the grass to slow the ball up, and heck some of them are on turf; also watch the first baseman react to the "base hit" and defer toward the bag). Also worth noting that there is a ground ball that sneaks through where there is a throw-out, but that was at Chase Field which has the fastest natural grass of any ballpark.
4) Outfielders charging in a do-or-die scenario (you'll see many flail and catch off-center, and a lot could have gone wrong for them; these are not natural charges and this would often cost them on any other regular play, including a throw to home).
5) Outfielders with cannon arms.
Literally almost all of these things need to happen, and the result still becomes a bang-bang play. The reality is that if you had a moderate speed lefty up there hitting a semi-hard ground ball to a regularly-positioned outfielder, even if the outfielder makes a half-decent attempt to get the runner out with a player covering the bag, I bet you that batter-runner could even round first base and not have any issue whatsoever getting back to the bag.
The biggest issue of all of these by far is the outfield positioning. Go to a ball game and make note of how deep (and off the lines for the most part) outfielders stand against every hitter. I might do that for a wishlist case when I go to a Giants game at the end of next month.
This, much like bunts and many other oddities, are fixing broken parts but are not addressing the whole. There is still a lot of reconstructing in this game that is needed that aren't just these simple workarounds, because they aren't acknowledging the bigger issue(s).
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