We get a runner on second with no outs, Adkins attempts to bunt but goes foul to make the count 1-2, Adkins then strikes out, Powers comes up and he strikes out, and Cody Freeman finishes it up with another strike out. Both Powers and Freemans strike outs were looking. 0-0 going to top of 2nd.
What the hell is this team's problem getting down a bunt?
- Thread starter 38843dawg
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Why are we bunting there anyway?Wearein the heart of our batting line-up with no outs and a man already in scoring position. If we were nearer the bottom of the line-up, I can buybunting. However,withAdkins'clutch hitting lately, I wouldn't take the bat out of his hands to bunt. Followed by Powers,Freeman, etc., we should be trying to score morethan one run out of that inning.38843dawg said:
demarkcus cuzins said:
In the fourth, Iguess thethinking there is to get rid of the double-play possibility with men on first and second. In theory, with men on second and third and one out, you should almost always score one or two runs. Since we were down one at the time, I can buy that, but with it only the fourth inning, it could go either way.
extensive statistical analysis shows that sacrifice bunts actually make runs less likely to score. They do, however, make runs more likely than if the player had swung away and struck out, a fact that is rarely mentioned.<div>
</div><div>It also depends on the opposition's pitching and defense.</div>
</div><div>It also depends on the opposition's pitching and defense.</div>
one thing I would look at is where the thirtd baseman is playing, and if he is back, bunting is not a bad idea. That rarely happens because college coaches are so conscious of that, it seems. And I wasn't at the game or anything and at choir practice, so I don't know if that was the situation or not, but just throwing another possibility out there. Most teams wouldn't expect a team to bunt that early in the game, so that's why the third baseman may have been playing back.
At any rate, we were trying to be unconventional trying to make something happen. And sometimes even if it doesn't work, you plant the seed that we might do something like that again, and you get the infielders playing up, and that increases the chance that you get a hit if you swing away the next time. Brett Butler used to do that ALL the time.
And if it does work, great.
I think it's most effective if you pick your spots with it, because it makes you even more unpredictable and that's just something else in your favor. For example, Tony LaRussa likes to put suicide squeeze plays on a good bit. I can't tell you how many times I've seen managers tell the pitcher to throw a pitch way out of the strike zone trying to cross up the Cardinals, and the squeeze isn't on, and all of a sudden the batter is in a good hitters count. And yes, I have seen LaRussa put on some squeeze plays that got blown up to. But the key is picking your spots.
Also, Adkins is probably the worst bunter that we have. I wouldn't judge our team bunting on Luke. If you think this team is bad at bunting, pull out a tape of the 2006 MSU baseball team. Ogden, Shepherd, Frost, are all pretty good at it.
At any rate, we were trying to be unconventional trying to make something happen. And sometimes even if it doesn't work, you plant the seed that we might do something like that again, and you get the infielders playing up, and that increases the chance that you get a hit if you swing away the next time. Brett Butler used to do that ALL the time.
And if it does work, great.
I think it's most effective if you pick your spots with it, because it makes you even more unpredictable and that's just something else in your favor. For example, Tony LaRussa likes to put suicide squeeze plays on a good bit. I can't tell you how many times I've seen managers tell the pitcher to throw a pitch way out of the strike zone trying to cross up the Cardinals, and the squeeze isn't on, and all of a sudden the batter is in a good hitters count. And yes, I have seen LaRussa put on some squeeze plays that got blown up to. But the key is picking your spots.
Also, Adkins is probably the worst bunter that we have. I wouldn't judge our team bunting on Luke. If you think this team is bad at bunting, pull out a tape of the 2006 MSU baseball team. Ogden, Shepherd, Frost, are all pretty good at it.