When Derek Shelton self-assessed his rookie season as Pittsburgh Pirates manager, his greatest regret was the moves he didn’t make. Shelton wishes his team had been more aggressive in not only stealing bases but situational running like 3-2 counts and hit-and-runs.
If the Pirates look different on the basepaths this spring, it’s intentional.
After stealing 16 bases in 60 games last season — which ranked as the third-worst in baseball — they have four stolen bases through their first 11 Grapefruit League games. That’s an improvement of nearly one steal per game. More important than stealing bases is how they are running.
“We have talked about being more aggressive,” Shelton said. “I’ve talked about it in my personal growth but with our team looking for opportunities to do those things early on in spring training, giving those opportunities. I think at times you’ll see guys run and it’s on their own.”
Shelton cited Gregory Polanco, who once suffered season-ending knee and shoulder injuries on a slide to second, as an example for stealing a base on his own by reading the situation. Shelton said Polanco recognized that the pitch was going to be a breaking ball and took off.
“All we’re asking in those situations is, have a purpose for it,” Shelton said. “Have a purpose for what we’re doing, why we’re doing it.”
The mindset started this spring with Pirates first base coach Tarrik Brock, who works on baserunning with players. Brock was dissatisfied with last season’s results, after the Pirates were caught stealing 11 times and made 25 outs on the bases.
Brock knew their decision-making had to improve.
“I’m always pushing to run, but the one thing we have to do as base stealers is we have to earn the trust of our manager, know the situation, make sure we’re putting ourselves in the best situation for the guys coming up behind us and not running just because we’re fast,” Brock said. “That’s the biggest thing. Once we show that consistently, we’ll be able to open up and run more and use that as part of our game, whether it’s hit-and-runs, or run-and-hits or just straight steals. I think we have the speed and athleticism to do that.”
The Pirates addressed the speed and athleticism by acquiring outfielders Anthony Alford, Dustin Fowler, Brian Goodwin and Troy Stokes Jr., who stole third base with two outs against Toronto on March 1. Last Sunday against Baltimore, Jacob Stallings and Phillip Evans did a double steal, then both scored on Kevin Newman’s ground-rule double.
Brock believes the Pirates players will be more inclined to attempt steals as the competition heats up for spots on the 26-man Opening Day roster, looking for ways to impress the coaching staff.
“It’s just a matter of time, as spring goes along, that you’ll see guys open up as we get our legs underneath us,” Brock said. “You saw Troy Stokes steal a base, steal third the other day, which is great. He wants to show and impress. I think that becomes contagious, where guys just want to run. As you see one guy successfully steal a base, I want to jump on, the next guy wants to jump on, then it just becomes something that snowballs into something really good.”
Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes said the approach is nothing new, citing the organizational emphasis throughout his time in the minors to work with your weapons and take an extra 90 feet any way you can. His 13 total bases leads the team this spring, and includes four doubles and a triple.
“You’re not always going to be able to steal, so dirt-ball reads, first-to-thirds, being able to know who’s in the outfield, how their arm is, what extra bases you can take, you always have to do your homework,” Hayes said. “Whether a guy is moving to his right or left or toward the hole, you might go first-to-third, little things like that, those types of things add up. I think we’re doing a really good job of that so far.”
That’s not to say there haven’t been snafus. After his double against Detroit advanced Kevin Newman to third, Hayes jumped on Bryan Reynolds’ grounder to first and forced Newman out at home. On Tuesday against Atlanta, Stallings turned a two-run double into an extra base on an error by right fielder Abraham Almonte then got thrown out by a mile after deciding to head for home, prompting Shelton to joke that it was at least entertaining.
“It’s like watching super slo-mo,” Shelton said, with a laugh. “Well, he stole third the other day so now he’s a speed guy.”
Then again, Shelton said the emphasis on the value of an out also explains why teams don’t steal bases as often as they once did, that the risk can outweigh the reward when a runner is taken out of scoring position. Brock said Stokes recognized that Toronto pitcher Robbie Ray’s delivery was slow to the plate, so he decided to steal third with two outs. The decision to steal, while impressive in its boldness, also requires the understanding that a runner is in scoring position and can reach home from second on a base hit.
“I don’t have to go to CVS and get some more Just For Men — not that I use it — that play can’t be that close,” Brock said. “And just understanding, it’s spring training — yes, we get that — but also understanding that in a regular season game, we can get some heart palpitations from that.”
The Pirates, however, know that they have to find creative ways to manufacture runs after finishing dead last in on-base percentage and runs scored, next-to-last in total bases and third-worst in batting average and home runs last season. And that was before they traded slugger Josh Bell to Washington in December.
“It’s trying to create as many run-scoring opportunities as possible,” Shelton said. “I’m not filling anyone in that we’re going to have someone standing at the plate and hit 40 (homers), I don’t think, so the more run-scoring possibilities we can get the better off we are.”
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories:
Pirates/MLB | Sports
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Pirates preaching aggressive approach on bases as a way to manufacture more runs - TribLIVE"
Post a Comment