Ron Wotus on Base Running

[rog]

Here are some comments from Ron Wotus on base running, which the Giants are endeavoring to improve this season even though it was one of the few things they were above average in last season:


"Athleticism helps and speed helps," Wotus said. "But you don't have to be fast to be good at baserunning. A good example is Buster Posey. A ball in the dirt, he advances. A base hit, he knows where the outfield is playing and gets good reads. Those are the things we want to improve on, whether we're fast or slow, because we have to score from second base on base hits."

The Giants were above-average in advancing on the bases last season and were thrown out doing so slightly less than average.  Surprisingly or not, Denard Span was one of their worst base runners, and he is of course gone.  Posey wasn't nearly as bad last season as he is generally considered here to be, and thus it shouldn't be shocking that Wotus mentioned him as an example of how even a slow base runner can be a good one.

Remember too:  You don't have to be good in sports to be a good one.  Good sportsmanship isn't dead.

[klaiggeb]

No question, one can be a good base runner without a lot of speed.

Dick Groat was one of those.

However, the ability to out run the ball to TAKE that extra base can't be discounted.

[rog]

The ideal runner has the speed to take the extra base and the judgment to get a good break and judgment to know when to try to do so. Wotus is saying that Buster has two of the three.

I would rather have the slow runner with the good judgment than the fast runner who runs into a lot of outs. I'm not sure the value of avoiding an out is fully appreciated here. And when it comes on the bases, an out costs not only the out, but the runner as well.

[rog]

Fan Graphs rates Buster's base running at -20 runs over his career. That's pretty close to Joey Votto's -23 runs in a longer career, and not horribly behind Anthony Rizzo's -11 in a shorter career. It's certainly ahead of Miguel Cabrera's -65.

Interestingly enough to our conversations, Brandon Belt is ranked at -1 run, or essentially average on the bases. Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik are each rated at +2 runs, or just above average. Pablo Sandoval is rated at -31 runs. Hunter Pence may have been overly exuberant on the base paths. Despite all his speed and a long career, Hunter is rated at only +10 runs. Despite a much shorter and part-time career, Gregor Blanco is rated at +19 runs.

These ratings don't seem that big, but that is in part because the Giants have no truly great base runners. Last season alone Dee Gordon was rated at +9 runs, and Trea Turner at at +8. That's nearly one extra win each, which is darn good base running.

In his record-breaking 1962 season, Maury Wills was rated at +16 runs.