If you mean by "practiced" that the guys who don't ever bunt half-ass a couple of attempts, then yes they are practiced every day.
So, a guy (Mathis) who has 50 career sacrifice bunts, just tried a safety squeeze with the third baseman playing back. Lo and behold, he bunted poorly and they threw the guy out at home. Why anyone thinks a bunt is always going to be successful is beyond me.
Might just be me being petty or hating Gomez, but did anyone else notice the bat flip, elbow guard flip, etc... by Gomez after he got walked? Dude just has to be an a$$ all the time. Amazing win. Glad I stayed up.
I was there tonight. Big downer to start, Cole didn't have it, and all the pitching changes were irritating to suffer through, super fun game to watch the Astros grind themselves back into the game. All the lineup changes and the bunt felt like we were in the National League again. Great win! I'm going again tomorrow to see them get the record!
I'm going with my Dad tomorrow ... so is my roommate (separately) with a mutual friend.... everyone is gonna be there
Damn... That was satisfying. Love Bregman's walk offs... Followed by his interviews. He always tells a story about what is going on in the dug out.
About time some one run games started going our way. Although it was only a one run game because it ended, had that been the 8th inning we probably would have blown it wide open.
"Bregman, who was 0-for-4 entering his final at-bat, extended his streak of reaching base to 29 consecutive games with the walk-off hit. That's the second-highest active streak in the Majors, behind Shin-Soo Choo's 32-game streak." Who blinks first...
Considering every hitter fails more than they succeed, one bunt that failed is hardly evidence against them. That said, I usually am against most sacrifice bunts. I like attempts for hits by skilled bunters and against the shift when odds are usually a hit or a foul. Late in games needing a run being an exception on sacrifices.
speaking of Altuve, he is now 3rd in the AL in OBP trailing only trout and Betts. I like OBP More than OPS or OPP.
Having baseball be a part of my life I can tell you the chances of a sacrifice in that situation is more successful percentage wise in that situation then a 278 hitting batter in a slump coming through. I felt at the time it was a great call. I’m not the manager though nor do I have the credentials. Why are we still talking about this though? We won. Result was what we wanted.
We are discussing usage of the bunt in mlb. Clearly a topic worth discussing. Simple question, if the chance of a safety squeeze (or any bunt for that matter) being successful is a given, why does the average AL team have only 7 sacrifice bunts over the course of this season? That’s less than one successful sacrifice for every ten games. Surely a safety squeeze situation comes up much more often than that. For the most part, a bunt is a bad play. Of course, there are situations where a bunt is the good play, but having a guy try to safety squeeze (something he has never done in his entire career) with one out to tie the game is a poor percentage option. You also decrease your opportunity to win the game in the 9th. I strongly suspect the thought never even crossed Hinch’s mind.
In the 9th, we saw the perfect example (and perfect execution) of where a bunt is still routinely used. Men on 1st, 2nd, late innings, nobody out, down by one run. It was good fortune that they had the perfect guy at the plate in that situation (Kemp). Often enough, its a non-bunting candidate, and if the inning doesn't work out (especially with a GIDP or K in there), I often replay it in my head the scenarios if they had a guy at the plate who could execute a bunt. On the flip side, men on 2nd and 3rd... with 1 out... and down by 1 run... you better have a guy at the plate who can swing away, because a bunt, or safety squeeze, is far down the list of viable options. The goal is to win the game... and one swing of the bat gets you there. A bunt MAY tie the game, but you give up an out in the process. Or you get the runner thrown out at home with a bad bunt. Or you strike out on the bunt attempt because you're not used to it. Just too many negative scenarios to suggest a safety squeeze in that moment is the "best" option. Even if super bunter Tony Kemp is at the plate instead of Springer, I'm STILL asking him to swing the bat. I actually half-expected them to walk Springer to set up the DP with Bregman. The CI ended up being equivalent to a walk anyways.
"we're just having the time of our lives." -Alejandro =) That was a funny interview. I thought they no longer allowed chew.
One of AJ Hinch's best move ever is sticking with Bregman through thick and thin. The hug he gave Bregman last night is like a father and son hug. I told people that he is going to be our future Bidge.
