Javi Baez with the most heads up baserunning you'll ever see.

[GOilers88]

Total gong show by the Pirates but holy hell is this awesome.

https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FO...5-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4

Click to read more...

 

[Prominence Problem]

If 1B just steps on first, none of this matters.

 

[Cas]

That should be career-ending for Will Craig.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Not at all impressed actually with Baez

That is far from heads up baserunning... The 1B is an idiot and made blunder you expect of a little leaguer

 

[GarbageGoal]

That should be career-ending for Will Craig.

He'll keep the Pirates "competitive".

Seriously, only Cubs fans could somehow make this about how awesome they are and not about the Pirates being inept in ever single way.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

I never see it mentioned, cause everyone just says "step on first", but if he doesnt throw home and just tags Baez AT ANY POINT the inning is over and the run doesnt count. Why the f*** did he throw home with 2 outs?!?

Hell Baez even appears to run out of the base path

 

[NJDevs26]

Not at all impressed actually with Baez

That is far from heads up baserunning... The 1B is an idiot and made blunder you expect of a little leaguer

What else was he supposed to do? If he keeps running to the base the first baseman just tags him or steps on the bag. He did something unpredictable and deked out the 1B.

 

[GOilers88]

Not at all impressed actually with Baez

That is far from heads up baserunning... The 1B is an idiot and made blunder you expect of a little leaguer

That's like a textbook example of a heads up play, lol.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

That should be career-ending for Will Craig.

Trade him Pirates. I would take Will Craig on my team instantly. Don't hang onto him banking on potential like you're doing with Polanco. Also, trade Keller. The Rays can save him.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Trade him Pirates. I would take Will Craig on my team instantly. Don't hang onto him banking on potential like you're doing with Polanco. Also, trade Keller. The Rays can save him.

Dude isn't even a top 30 prospect for the Pirates and was well en route to castoff status before the pandemic halted everything. Craig really has one singular tool and his toolbox was just on display for all to see here. Some guys you can tell are going to bust quickly...Craig has been sending off strong wasted pick vibes from the start of his professional career and has effectively been deemed irrelevant by a kid drafted in the 17th round the following year. The worst thing is that he has a strong-ish arm, but he's too immobile to put anywhere other than 1B or DH. He's got that veteran back-up catcher speed.

It's always possible that Craig catches on and figures things out when taken aboard by a better franchise, but the tools aren't impressive enough to cover for the numerous glaring flaws in his game.

This is what happens when you draft a college bat with the expectation that you can have a cheap power bat in the Majors within a couple years.

 

[SoupNazi]

The Pirates should be fired out of a cannon. The entire organization.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

I am a very casual fan of baseball. I do not claim to know the game that well.

Can someone explain to me why the 1st baseman doesn't step on the bag immediately upon receiving the ball here?

EDIT: Holy shit I didn't even notice there were two outs already, that makes it even worse.

 

[Note Worthy]

I am a very casual fan of baseball. I do not claim to know the game that well.

Can someone explain to me why the 1st baseman doesn't step on the bag immediately upon receiving the ball here?

EDIT: Holy shit I didn't even notice there were two outs already, that makes it even worse.

That's what we all want to know.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I am a very casual fan of baseball. I do not claim to know the game that well.

Can someone explain to me why the 1st baseman doesn't step on the bag immediately upon receiving the ball here?

EDIT: Holy shit I didn't even notice there were two outs already, that makes it even worse.

Everything that went wrong there is shit I learned playing tee ball as a 6 year-old. There is no good excuse, just a series of catastrophic brain farts led by a bad player with little game action since the pandemic started.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Everything that went wrong there is shit I learned playing tee ball as a 6 year-old. There is no good excuse, just a series of catastrophic brain farts led by a bad player with little game action since the pandemic started.

It's a confusing situation for a relative novice like myself. With 2 outs, he shouldn't even be caring about any of the runners, correct? All he has to do is just step on 1st base and the batter is out and the inning is over. Why on Earth is he even looking toward home plate in the first place?

 

[Big McLargehuge]

It's a confusing situation for a relative novice like myself. With 2 outs, he shouldn't even be caring about any of the runners, correct? All he has to do is just step on 1st base and the batter is out and the inning is over. Why on Earth is he even looking toward home plate in the first place?

All he has to do is touch the bag. That's it. It ends the inning and the runner going home literally does not matter. It is not a force play at home, it is a force play at 1st that ends the inning. Even if the runner touches home first, it wouldn't matter. 3 outs ends the inning. Once Baez touched 1st the run counted.

The only thing that can explain this is that he forgot how many outs there were and panicked when he saw the runner going home. It's an inexcusable mistake that is among the very first things any baseball player gets taught. When coaches talk about fundamentals, this is the kind of play they're talking about. He's not a case of a bat being plugged at 1B as a desperation move, either...he's almost exclusively played 1B since the end of 2016.

In other words, brain fart. He likely got lost in the moment and forgot the situation.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

All he has to do is touch the bag. That's it. It ends the inning and the runner going home literally does not matter. It is not a force play at home, it is a force play at 1st that ends the inning. Even if the runner touches home first, it wouldn't matter. 3 outs ends the inning. Once Baez touched 1st the run counted.

The only thing that can explain this is that he forgot how many outs there were and panicked when he saw the runner going home. It's an inexcusable mistake that is among the very first things any baseball player gets taught. When coaches talk about fundamentals, this is the kind of play they're talking about. He's not a case of a bat being plugged at 1B as a desperation move, either...he's almost exclusively played 1B since the end of 2016.

In other words, brain fart. He likely got lost in the moment and forgot the situation.

I didn't even realize the bolded section, thanks for the explanation. So what you're telling me is that there's really no excuse whatsoever for this play, it's a complete mental breakdown.

 

[Cubs2024WSChamps]

As a Cubs fan, I'm giving the guy a pass.

Baez has a really high baseball IQ. If the throw doesn't bumble Baez looks like a clown.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I didn't even realize the bolded section, thanks for the explanation. So what you're telling me is that there's really no excuse whatsoever for this play, it's a complete mental breakdown. Is the 1B new to playing the position?

No good explanation. He made a mistake that quickly avalanched into many mistakes.

Not new to 1B at all. He's almost exclusively played the position since 2017 and had extensive history at the position between college and summer leagues. Had only 1 error in 950+ innings the last time he had regular playing time (2019).

 

[Cas]

No good explanation. He made a mistake that quickly avalanched into many mistakes.

Not new to 1B at all. He's almost exclusively played the position since 2017 and had extensive history at the position between college and summer leagues. Had only 1 error in 950+ innings the last time he had regular playing time (2019).

Massive fundamental defensive error. Also he can't hit and he's limited to first base. The Pirates probably don't want to humiliate him, but he doesn't belong on a major league roster.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

I didn't even realize the bolded section, thanks for the explanation. So what you're telling me is that there's really no excuse whatsoever for this play, it's a complete mental breakdown.

Yeah, as I also alluded to earlier; they could have had a standoff where the runner touched home two hours earlier but as long as Baez doesnt get to first it wouldnt count, since there are 2 outs all force out situations have to advance. Throwing home makes no sense in any capacity. It would be like not pulling the goalie on a delayed penalty for fear of the other team shooting it in and scoring, makes absolutely no sense


Here is the most famous incident, though the inverse of what happened here

Merkle's Boner - Wikipedia

 

[Cas]

Yeah, as I also alluded to earlier; they could have had a standoff where the runner touched home two hours earlier but as long as Baez doesnt get to first it wouldnt count, since there are 2 outs all force out situations have to advance. Throwing home makes no sense in any capacity. It would be like not pulling the goalie on a delayed penalty for fear of the other team shooting it in and scoring, makes absolutely no sense

Here is the most famous incident, though the inverse of what happened here

Merkle's Boner - Wikipedia

The Merkle incident is a bit different in that umpires regularly failed to enforce the rules regarding runs scoring when an inning-ending force-out was possible, until they suddenly decided to enforce the rules for Fred Merkle. Additionally, the ball was handled by spectators and coaches during the incident,and masses of spectators were on the field (as was common in that era), adding to the confusion.

Craig's error is nowhere near as understandable.

 

[Otto]

Not at all impressed actually with Baez

That is far from heads up baserunning... The 1B is an idiot and made blunder you expect of a little leaguer

99.99% of the first basemen in the league are just touching first on the play, but also.. 99.99% of the base runners are not running back to home