Machado

[HahnSolo]

Centerfield wrote: I watched the replay. Certainly looks like Machado kicks him. If I had to guess why I'd say maybe Aguilar was taking up more of the plate with his foot (rather than toeing it and stretching) than most 1B.

Agree on Aguilar taking up a bit too much of the bag. Because of that, if this had been a more bang-bang play, I would be a little more forgiving of Manny--whatever he has to do to try and beat the throw. It wasn't though. It sure seems like Manny could have avoided contact, looks like a pretty intentional kick to me.

[Centerfield]

Yeah, if I had to guess motivation I'd say Manny grounded out, was pissed about it, saw Aguilar taking up more than half the bag, and then either intentionally clipped him, or made no effort to avoid him, basically to send the message "Get off the bag."

In other words, didn't intend to hurt the guy, but definitely intended to be a bit of a dick.

One note on the hustle thing, I don't know what the case is with Machado, but oftentimes it's not nearly as clear cut as one might think. Run out every ball. Sure, it sounds simple, but the fact that so many players don't do it should tell you there's more to it.

Put it this way, I would guess that less than 10% of major leaguers hustle on every play. Do you know why we love Nimmo's hustle? Because it's unusual. If everyone did it, we wouldn't even notice it. But even if it's as high as 50%, that means half of the big league ballplayers cannot, or at least do not, run out every ball.

On the other hand, 100% of fans and media believe they would hustle all the time. So, I guess it's possible that every year, we find the 400 players on earth who do not feel this way. Or more likely, most of the fans, if put in that situation, would do exactly what the current players do. Hustle sometimes, not others, in varying degrees.

Sports psychology is complicated. Playing baseball, at any level, is anxiety inducing. Hitting a baseball especially, and hitting a baseball at the Major League level during the post-season...I would guess it's something few of us can really imagine. One of the ways to combat anxiety is to make an effort to relax. Ball players go through all sorts of efforts to relax themselves at the plate. Minimize the consequences, slow things down. Hustle, is the exact opposite. Go full blast, all or nothing.

So imagine a ball player that, though gifted physically, is prone to anxiety. Put him in the most anxiety-inducing situation imaginable in sports, then tell him he has to relax in order to succeed. The ballplayer spends an at-bat trying to relax, sees that he's hit a ground ball right at the shortstop, has to process his failure, which is deeply disappointing, then tell his body to stop relaxing, and run full-tilt. I mean, yes, a ballplayer should be able to do this. But if some guys have trouble, you know, I get it.

[Ceetar]

There's the risk-reward aspect to it. This especially applies to slow jogs to first rather than just stopping. Like, maybe the SS air-mails it, but then you're safe even if you're jogging.

Basically, do you really think the number of extra bases you might get from hustling is greater than the value you might lose due to wear and tear and fatigue and possible injury of running 100% every single time you make contact? Many people don't.

I feel like there's a bigger complain for guys running 90% on two hoppers to short that get beat by a stride or two. I don't know that speed actually creates that much forced errors, but I bet if you're not a prototypical 'fast guy' you could steal a few extra bases by hustling. Someone of modest speed busting it down the line on a grounder to short where the fielder might think he has time.

Of course, I've also been thinking they should move the bases to like 92 feet and the mound back another foot or two.

[Frayed Knot]

Centerfield wrote: One note on the hustle thing, I don't know what the case is with Machado, but oftentimes it's not nearly as clear cut as one might think. Run out every ball. Sure, it sounds simple, but the fact that so many players don't do it should tell you there's more to it. Put it this way, I would guess that less than 10% of major leaguers hustle on every play. Do you know why we love Nimmo's hustle? Because it's unusual. If everyone did it, we wouldn't even notice it. But even if it's as high as 50%, that means half of the big league ballplayers cannot, or at least do not, run out every ball.

Sure. But when you do it in the midst of a tight playoff game, on a grounder where you clearly could have been safe but just as clearly never bothered to try, during a time when you're
supposedly on a contract push, and then basically just admit that it's not in you to do so even at the age of 26 and as compared to the rest of MLB ... that's a really bad sign.

Few fans rag on ballplayers for not sprinting at every opportunity. But the fact that maybe the two biggest non-hustlers down the stretch this season, even though both young and healthy, were
Machado and Harper is simply stunning. Harper hit fly balls this year and wouldn't get more than 15 feet from home plate before making a right hand turn into the dugout.

[Centerfield]

Frayed Knot wrote: Sure. But when you do it in the midst of a tight playoff game, on a grounder where you clearly could have been safe but just as clearly never bothered to try, during a time when you're supposedly on a contract push, and then basically just admit that it's not in you to do so even at the age of 26 and as compared to the rest of MLB ... that's a really bad sign.

Yeah, more than a bad sign, I think he's outright saying he's not going to hustle, and all future employers should go in expecting that.

I'm just saying that maybe there's more to an inability to hustle than just the ballplayer not caring, or a character flaw.

Bryce Harper is also puzzling. He clearly does care. The not running thing. You wonder if that's also a defense mechanism of some sort.