Toronto Blue Jays

[2014olympicgold]

haha, ya that went South in a hurry. Still, this roster playing 500 ball is impressive. Gibby must have lost his mind calling for Travis to bunt yesterday.

ya, I get the team needs to manufacture runs right now, but you don't ask Double-to-the-Gap Devon to bunt.

[Bass56]

ya, I get the team needs to manufacture runs right now, but you don't ask Double-to-the-Gap Devon to bunt.

D2GD is my new nickname for him

[2014olympicgold]

D2GD is my new nickname for him

DDT? Am I talking about Double Devon Travis or Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, the insecticide?

[LawMan]

ya, I get the team needs to manufacture runs right now, but you don't ask Double-to-the-Gap Devon to bunt.

I might be in the minority but I was perfectly OK with the call in the situation. Down 1 with runners on 1st and 2nd, no out get the runners to 2nd and 3rd.

The part that drives me absolutely crazy is when a professional baseball player cannot get a sacrifice bunt down. This is part of a larger rant I have but it should be such a simple thing. Square up, level the bat, bunt strikes, do your job!!!

The call may be questionable (I liked it) but the execution was horrendous. I'm constantly amazed how many players have trouble sacrifice bunting

[lucafen4]

ya, I get the team needs to manufacture runs right now, but you don't ask Double-to-the-Gap Devon to bunt.

The top double player in baseball will normally double 7-7.5% of AB's or .070 batting average. I think it's safe to say, there's a higher likelihood (or should be) of him executing a sacrifice bunt

[2014olympicgold]

I might be in the minority but I was perfectly OK with the call in the situation. Down 1 with runners on 1st and 2nd, no out get the runners to 2nd and 3rd.

The part that drives me absolutely crazy is when a professional baseball player cannot get a sacrifice bunt down. This is part of a larger rant I have but it should be such a simple thing. Square up, level the bat, bunt strikes, do your job!!!

The call may be questionable (I liked it) but the execution was horrendous. I'm constantly amazed how many players have trouble sacrifice bunting

Would you ask Polak to take a shootout attempt? Player talent determines calls. If it was Carrera up to bat, and he had 2 doubles in the game, yeah call the bunt. But Travis can’t bunt. The call was bad (but understandable), but the execution was just as bad.

Because Travis isn’t a good bunter, why make the call to bunt? Yes he should have had that 3^rd pitch (low middle of the zone), but you’re asking a dog to fly when you ask a guy who can’t bunt to bunt.

[2014olympicgold]

The top double player in baseball will normally double 7-7.5% of AB's or .070 batting average. I think it's safe to say, there's a higher likelihood (or should be) of him executing a sacrifice bunt

Travis is hitting 320 in May. He had 2 doubles (4^th inning, 6^th) in that game (it was the 8^th). He was bunting to advance the runners for whom to hit them in? BARNEY. You have the tying run at 2^nd base and you have your best hitter up to bat (and the guy on second was a pinch runner), and you don’t have confidence your batter can get them at least advanced to 3^rd on a pop-fly, FOR BARNEY TO HIT THEM IN?!

If it was Donaldson up to bat after maybe I see it a little more. But I dunno, I don’t like the call.

[LawMan]

Would you ask Polak to take a shootout attempt? Player talent determines calls. If it was Carrera up to bat, and he had 2 doubles in the game, yeah call the bunt. But Travis can’t bunt. The call was bad (but understandable), but the execution was just as bad.

Because Travis isn’t a good bunter, why make the call to bunt? Yes he should have had that 3^rd pitch (low middle of the zone), but you’re asking a dog to fly when you ask a guy who can’t bunt to bunt.

I wouldn't ask Polak to take a shootout attempt if I had better options but you don't get to pick each batter as the situation changes. Also a bunt isn't a shootout attempt (high skill play) its being able to skate the centre and dump the puck in (elementary level play). In other words its a basic skill that every professional baseball player should have and be able to execute when called upon to do it.
I guess I take issue with "Travis isn't a good bunter" as being an acceptable defence to having him not bunt or as a defence to him not getting a sacrifice bunt into play.

Travis is hitting 320 in May. He had 2 doubles (4^th inning, 6^th) in that game (it was the 8^th). He was bunting to advance the runners for whom to hit them in? BARNEY. You have the tying run at 2^nd base and you have your best hitter up to bat (and the guy on second was a pinch runner), and you don’t have confidence your batter can get them at least advanced to 3^rd on a pop-fly, FOR BARNEY TO HIT THEM IN?!

If it was Donaldson up to bat after maybe I see it a little more. But I dunno, I don’t like the call.

.320 is a great average and yet means he's only going to get a hit 1/3 times, the other 68% of the time he's forced out. most of his fly outs aren't advancing a runner, and a decent number of his ground outs are going to lead to a double play. Given those numbers I like the call.
It's not ideal have Barney up behind him to drive the runner in but it does give options. The first option is to pull a stronger bat off the bench to increase the chances of a sac-fly. The other is running a squeeze play, with a pinch runner in contact play is probably on and Barney does make contact a decent amount of the time.

[2014olympicgold]

If Travis hits into a double play its still 2outs, man on third for Barney.

Every hitter should be able to Bunt, but they can't, just the new MLB. Maybe it's like asking a D to take a faceoff, hows that? Bunting a 99mph isn't easy, especially when not asked to do it everyday.

The call to bunt was the right call, but i'm not pleased with when it was called and who was hitting. After the first bunt attempt you could tell it was going to be bad, Travis just can't bunt.

[bondon]

If Travis hits into a double play its still 2outs, man on third for Barney.

Every hitter should be able to Bunt, but they can't, just the new MLB. Maybe it's like asking a D to take a faceoff, hows that? Bunting a 99mph isn't easy, especially when not asked to do it everyday.

The call to bunt was the right call, but i'm not pleased with when it was called and who was hitting. After the first bunt attempt you could tell it was going to be bad, Travis just can't bunt.

I mean...you can't really say it would be two outs with Barney up and a runner at third because what if Travis hits dead to third and buddy goes third to second. I know, I'm going with one of the worst case scenarios right here but I don't think it's really fair to assume things go even marginally okay either.

I'm fine with the call. I still think it's pathetic that players can't bunt. It is a fundamental skill that should be practiced by everyone. Drilled into them. Every practice, end every BP with 10 bunt attempts. It's really, REALLY not that hard. If you PRACTICE. And I say this as a former player.

It's like a basketball player that can't shoot free throws. Stand at the ****ing line and shoot.

This has been a major pet peeve of mine in sports. Skills that can be practiced should never be a limiting factor, IMO.

[TheWhale]

I mean...you can't really say it would be two outs with Barney up and a runner at third because what if Travis hits dead to third and buddy goes third to second. I know, I'm going with one of the worst case scenarios right here but I don't think it's really fair to assume things go even marginally okay either.

I'm fine with the call. I still think it's pathetic that players can't bunt. It is a fundamental skill that should be practiced by everyone. Drilled into them. Every practice, end every BP with 10 bunt attempts. It's really, REALLY not that hard. If you PRACTICE. And I say this as a former player.

It's like a basketball player that can't shoot free throws. Stand at the ****ing line and shoot.

This has been a major pet peeve of mine in sports. Skills that can be practiced should never be a limiting factor, IMO.

Shooting free throws is more mental than physical skill. I understand why people think things like bunting and shooting free throws are super easy things to do and every single player should have these basic tools but it's a much more difficult task than given credit for.

Back to the sac bunt and this is a question I have for anyone who liked the call, why not take 3 cracks at driving in the runner on 2nd rather than trying twice?

[2014olympicgold]

I mean...you can't really say it would be two outs with Barney up and a runner at third because what if Travis hits dead to third and buddy goes third to second. I know, I'm going with one of the worst case scenarios right here but I don't think it's really fair to assume things go even marginally okay either.

I'm fine with the call. I still think it's pathetic that players can't bunt. It is a fundamental skill that should be practiced by everyone. Drilled into them. Every practice, end every BP with 10 bunt attempts. It's really, REALLY not that hard. If you PRACTICE. And I say this as a former player.

It's like a basketball player that can't shoot free throws. Stand at the ****ing line and shoot.

This has been a major pet peeve of mine in sports. Skills that can be practiced should never be a limiting factor, IMO.

Worse case would be a triple play.

[bondon]

Shooting free throws is more mental than physical skill. I understand why people think things like bunting and shooting free throws are super easy things to do and every single player should have these basic tools but it's a much more difficult task than given credit for.

Back to the sac bunt and this is a question I have for anyone who liked the call, why not take 3 cracks at driving in the runner on 2nd rather than trying twice?

I mean I can't speak to the free throws from experience as I never played basketball at any competitive level, but I have talked to people who have and they say it is a fundamental skill. Obviously for some guys there are complications due to disproportionate size as I understand it but on the whole...With respect to the bunt, it 100% is a fundamental skill that can be practiced, and I'm not talking out of my ass here. One of these days head to the park early and watch BP and tell me how many guys end their BP session with some practice bunting.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying EVERY player needs to be an AMAZING bunter. But to me unless you're hitting in the 3 4 or even 5 spot (probably 2 as well but it would nice to have that skill set just in case) you should be reliable enough to be called upon to lay down a bunt and at least put a good showing out.

Of course, it's easier said than done to bunt a 99 mph fastball as you said - that I agree with for sure. But you can tell a lot of these guys just don't look comfortable at all in those scenarios, or try to be cheeky and do shit they aren't supposed to in order to try and stretch out a single. You saw it in that AB. Travis should have squared up to properly lay the bunt down on the first attempt and instead he tried to be sneaky about it and square up late and was completely unprepared when the ball got to the plate. Trust me, this isn't a "it's a hard thing to do" issue. It's a mentality and an ego-driven issue.

As for your question, there are merits to both arguments for sure. I mean going up to the plate and swinging away is obviously the more high risk high reward play and I wouldn't fault someone for giving it a shot...but the sac bunt is just the safer play as I'm sure you understand to minimize risk - assuming the guy can lay it down. Breaking up the double play, putting yourself in a position to score on a wild pitch, putting yourself in the position to score on a sac fly, yadda yadda. There's arguments for both sides, which is why I get irritated when people second guess decisions like this.

Worse case would be a triple play.

That's why I said one of the worst case scenarios. But obviously we rarely ever see the triple.

[hockeyrobot]

That bat flip.....geez Jose no wonder everyone else hates the Jays.

[2014olympicgold]

That bat flip.....geez Jose no wonder everyone else hates the Jays.

I don't get how everyone flips out at a bat flip, but no one bats an eye when a pitcher celebrates a K. How about the celebrations OF (namely Boston) does after the game but still on the field? For a sport that preaches old style and respect for the opponent, there's things that the defense does that is the same level as a bat flip.

I say keep the bat flips going.

BTW if Pillar actually said, "You {British slang for cigarette butt}", shame on him. But when Stroman quick pitches the other team freaks out, when Jays get quick pitched it's fine?

FWIW i would have left Biagini in. He didnt even have 70pitches and the BP has been stretched so thin lately. Plus he was pitching well after that 1st inning.