The Opener and Jason Bay

by dtoddwin on Apr 1, 2008 4:38 PM EDT

It's one game and gets all the appropriate caveats. McLouth, Nady, Doumit and Yates all looked good. Capps and Marte can reasonably be expected to perform better. But, what can we expect out of Jason Bay?

Early in spring training Dejan Kovacevic wrote about Jason Bay's miscues in the outfield. Both Bay and Kovacevic were willing to write this off as early in spring training and blamed it on the conditions in Bradenton, the wind, high skies, etc. I found this a little more than curious because catching flyballs is something 8 year olds can do rather easily and isn't a "skill" that should have to be polished each year. Can there be mitigating circumstances to making a play? Of course there can and sun or wind will certainly at times make routine plays difficult.

However, Bay last night was a horror show. He made a good running catch in the first inning and then made two other rather routine plays into adventureous ones by getting bad jumps, misreading the trajectory and taking bad routes. But, it's the play in the ninth that blows my mind.

Brian McCann, the good hitting, rather slow-footed catcher comes to bat with two out and runners on first and third in a 9-7 game. McCann is more of a pull hitter, yet Bay was playing him straight away two steps in front of the warning track. Now, I won't put this all on Bay, it is also on the coaching staff but he shouldn't have been playing that deep. But, that's the least of my concerns. McCann's hits a high pop into shallow left or slightly left center if you want to be picky. Bay charges hard and appears to camp under the ball. The ball lands 20 feet to his left and behind him. Bay wasn't available to reporters after the game but McLouth said each thought the other was going to catch it. Having watched the replay 20 times I don't know how that can be the case. Bay comes in apparently under the ball and stops. He never raises his hands to indicate he may have lost it. He never looks at McLouth in anticipation that McLouth is going to catch the ball. He never asks for help. It's completely inexplicable. I don't understand what happened.

I, like virtually every other Pirate fan, hope Bay reverts to the form seen in 2005 and 2006. But, I am becoming very concerned that we have already seen his best and even more concerned that the effort and intensity that one might expect are completely gone. Again I hope I'm wrong, but last night wasn't a good omen. It was a good win and there lots of positives to be taken away, but I fear we've seen the end of the good Jason Bay and the hopes of garnering something of value at the trade deadline are misguided.

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I just think he couldn't find the ball. I don't know what other explanation there could be, short of the early stages of Lou Gehrig's disease. If he thought that McLouth was going to catch it he would have been backing him up, not out in front of him.

by sisyphus on Apr 1, 2008 5:52 PM EDT 0 recs

I am not sure the flyball is much more than just a bad play,

but I am also of the camp that Bay's best is behind him.

by DITO on Apr 1, 2008 8:19 PM EDT 0 recs

I saw it differently

Like you, I watched it about a dozen times. Here's my call. I think as Bay approached the ball he assumed McLouth had it and was pretty much just running off the field....as he ran past the ball. McLouth, seeing Bay running toward the ball, held up assuming he was going to make the catch.

Bottom line...bad play by both. But that's the Centerfielder's ball. If he didn't hear Bay call for it, and he didn't....it's his play to make.

by Nosmo King on Apr 1, 2008 8:26 PM EDT 0 recs

Well, I can't say you're wrong....

but McLouth had him shaded to right center and had to come a mile. If Nate called it, you're right, but I can't imagine he called Bay off and based on where it landed I find it hard to fault McLouth. But, I'm certainly willing to hear other thoughts. My problem with the idea that he thought McLouth was going to catch the ball is he never looked at him. Don't you watch the guy making the game ending catch?

Unfortunately, it reminded me way too much of a ball hit into the gap at Shea last year where Bay abdicated his responsibility, and dogged a ball into the gap, so that quickly came to mind.

by dtoddwin on Apr 1, 2008 9:51 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah but...

When the ball dropped, I think McLouth was actually closer to the ball than Bay was. It's really hard to just blame Bay for this play. The TV angle made it seem like Bay had the ball in his sights and everyone else backed off, but it obscured just how close McLouth was to the ball. I'm not absolving Bay, but this wasn't an effort or a route-running problem by him or McLouth, it was just one of the most spectacularly botched communication efforts in the history of outfield play.

Besides that play, Bay ran well in the field and ran well on the bases (mostly running out grounders that he weakly hit, but hey). Those are two signs that his knee is feeling a lot better, because I don't think he did either thing particularly well at the end of last year.

http://whereisvanslyke.blogspot.com
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by whygavs on Apr 2, 2008 10:46 AM EDT up 0 recs

What communication?

I'm not buying that, Pat. There didn't appear to be any communication, and I don't think there's any point in paying attention to what they said to the press afterward. Nobobdy's going to bury Bay in public. It was Bay's ball, and he looked for all the world like he had it. He never took his eyes off the sky until the ball landed. I'm with you that this wasn't a routine botch, and we should move on, but I'd rather have heard Bay stand up and say he blew it. Even though he didn't, that's not a big deal either.

I'm just trying not to think that Bay has crossed over from "bad" to "butcher".

by azibuck on Apr 2, 2008 12:16 PM EDT up 0 recs

Well

Bay hasn't really said anything, which is pretty telling. It means either he knows he screwed up and is trying to avoid talking about it, or he thinks someone else screwed up and is trying to avoid talking about it.

As for the communication, well, if there was no communication on that play, that still makes it a botched communication effort. Bay and McLouth were both within 15 feet of the ball, which means that someone should've bee talking to someone. I get that it looked to us like Bay had the ball in his sights and there's no doubting he screwed the play up, but how could McLouth have not seen how badly he misjudged that ball? He was right there and he's the center fielder to boot. It takes a team effort to screw up a play like that that badly.

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by whygavs on Apr 2, 2008 12:49 PM EDT up 0 recs

Bay has always been a poor defender

He consistently plays too deep, and often too far off the line against righties. He lets way too many singles turn into doubles due to poor positioning, and often lack of hustle. When you hit 30 HRs and 100 RBIs people are willing to forgive/overlook those things.

Too many 0 for 6 nights combined with glaring defensive mistakes and it won't just be the die-hards on internet blogs that turn on him.

In spring training it was McClouth vs Morgan. I predict that by the end of June it'll be the question of McClouth & Morgan vs Bay.

by Blyleven Curve Ball on Apr 1, 2008 10:22 PM EDT 0 recs

Management

Was anyone else puzzled in I think it was the 10th or 11th when the Braves had the winning run on 2nd, and we pitched to Pena? Perhaps they felt he was an easy out, but it seemed like pure stupidity to pitch to him when intentionally walking him would have set up a double play.

Yes, we ended up getting 2 anyway, but that was more luck than skill.

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on Apr 1, 2008 10:28 PM EDT 0 recs

Hope you don't mind me going off-topic

but what happened to Duffy that he had to have shoulder surgery? And what about Sanchez - I know he played in the opener, but is he still suitable to play or is he fighting through some pain?

FrankD from Pensburgh.com

by FrankD on Apr 1, 2008 11:29 PM EDT 0 recs

Sanchez looked fine,

and the shoulder doesn't bother him at the plate, but I would guess he is still feeling discomfort. I don't have a clue how long it will be before he is 100%. You could take it as a positive that he isn't favoring it, or he could re injure it by playing through it.

Is there any way I can watch the bucs tonight? Think I can get it at a bar with satellite tv? I can't believe the second game of the season it isn't on foxsports or TBS.

by DITO on Apr 2, 2008 9:18 AM EDT 0 recs

How about Pearce?

If Bay is done (God - that's too short a career) why not give Pearce the shot? Is there some terrible secret about him? This guy was someone's idea of Minor League Player of the year, belongs to a team desperate for offense, yet everytime I see a list of outstanding prospects I search in vain for his name. Is he completely incompetent defensively?

by meandterry on Apr 2, 2008 10:17 AM EDT 0 recs

One Game

Bay's recent defensive lapses are indeed troubling, and his '07 obviously sucked, but I'm not in any rush to write off a 29-year old who OPS+'d 150 and 138 with 32 and 35 homers in '05 and '06 while hitting in front of, like, Michael Restovich.

If someone was declaring that Bay was back to form based on a great spring and a great season opener, we'd be rightly ripping on them - why not the same restraint in the other direction?

by Dan H on Apr 2, 2008 3:00 PM EDT 0 recs

watching the game

If you have a mainstream cable system, you can probably watch the game. MLB has a pay-per-view package called Extra Innings that shows up in the high numbers (770s where I am). They are giving a free preview for the first week, and I was able to watch last nights game. So look around on your cable; you should be able to watch the Atl and Fla series.

I agree that Bay botched the play (though I think McLouth could have had it also), but I wouldn't call him out for lack of effort. He ran very hard to first and made the other plays in the OF, hustling and looking better than in the past. I wouldn't throw him under the bus after one game any more than I would put Nady in the Hall of Fame.

by basmati on Apr 2, 2008 4:01 PM EDT 0 recs