. Might Hundley have had a play at the plate had he let the throw from Pence (who really does have a weak arm for a right fielder) carry him into the tag?
. The "Posey Rule" has changed the dynamic of the play at the plate. What used to be a crash play at the plate based on physical strength and courage has become a graceful ballet by the runner using the lane provided by the catcher to help him slide around the tag, with the hand often being used to swipe the plate on the way by.
. On Pablo's slide at the plate that gained him the "Kung Fu Panda" nickname, he appeared to be completely on the grass as he avoided the tag. Losing contact with the dirt baseball coming home would seem to me to have been out of the baseline, which could have resulted in an out by rule.
. Just yesterday saw a video of a slide home by Ichiro in which he avoided the tag TWICE. His initial slide carried him past the plate, and when the catcher blocked him off the plate on his way back to tag it, he feinted to his left and then rolled over him to touch the plate with his right hand.
. The announcers mentioned the size of the Padres' Franmil Reyes, which gives him the leverage for fabulous natural power. Hunter Renfroe also has fine power, which was negated by a fine leaping backhander by Gorkys at the center field fence, perhaps taking away a home, although most likely a double.
. Just as a few years ago we had the run of great-hitting shortstops, now we're at the beginning of a run of great hitters period. After a bit of a slow start followed by an injury, the Braves' Ronald Acuna, Jr. has had a tremendous season at the plate, and the announcers mentioned 19-year-old Juan Soto of the Nationals as the possible NL Rookie of the Year.
. As mentioned earlier, only the vagaries of the impact of service time on arbitration and free agency eligibility kept the Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and the White Sox's Eloy Jimenez in the minors all season long. Guerrero nearly hit .400 between AA and AAA, and Jimenez hit .355 in AAA after a similar promotion. Neither player is much of a fielder though.
. The Giants appear to have manipulated the rule with Buster Posey, sending him to Fresno in the spring of 2010, austensibily to have him work on his defense. No doubt his short experience behind the plate meant he could use a little work, and the Giants had Bengie, but it's hard to argue that as well as Buster played after being recalled on May 28th, he wasn't ready to start in the majors when the season opened, or at least in April instead of May, which would have moved up both his free agency and arbitration eligibility by a year.
. The Giants had pulled a similar move with Tim Lincecum in 2007. In Lincecum's case, it was a bigger jump -- from High A San Jose -- to the majors, but when he yielded only one earned run in over 30 innings in five starts for Fresno, it's hard to argue he wasn't ready. Once the Giants sent him down tough, moving back his free agency by a year, they played it straight by calling him up when fifth starter Russ Ortiz was injured. If the Giants had waited about another week to call Tim up, they would have postponed a year of arbitration eligibility. As it was, Tim scored the biggest Super Two arbitation contract by any pitcher. I believe that record still stands.
. Tim or his agent wanted to play his contract year by year, which backfired a bit when his career crashed in 2012. Tim still got one more exceptional contract though, reducing his loss. And the Giants' offer, while substantial, was a bit of a low ball.
. Speaking of plays made or not made around the fence, it appeared Chris Shaw was robbed of a catch of Reyes' homer the night before. But as the announcers said, there was no camera angle going along the fence, and I don't think the evidence was irrefutable. Tough call either way.
. It dawned on me that MLB might put in play a process where the tougher the call on the field -- such as in this case where the umpire had no way to get close to the play and had almost the worst possible angle from which to make the call -- the less definitive the replay should have to be to overturn the call. Of course then more subjectivity enters the situation.
. As fine as the idea of replay is, it really breaks up the flow of play, and it seems as if MLB makes enough money to add additional cameras to aid in the accuracy of the replay. I still believe the technology is there or could be quickly developed to virtually eliminate the need for umpires. Taking it to that extent would be costly though, and the players would likely find ways to cheat.
. Very nice take by Chris Shaw to draw a walk on a 3-2 cutter that just slid off the plate. Shaw has really been hot the past half week after getting off to one of the worst starts ever to his major league career. He can still be fooled, but he's made nice progress in laying off the high, hard one out of the zone, something Boly pointed out before he left that Chris needed to do.
. Aramis Garcia looks very good at first base digging out throws in the dirt. Is it possible the Giants will cut the chord with Brandon Belt -- who I believe can block trades to only six or 12 teams -- and alternate Buster and Aramis between catcher and first base? Despite his three home runs, I don't think Garcia has the bat for it.
. Garcia has made it interesting for the Giants to decide whether to re-sign Hundley or save money behind the plate. Way, way, way premature, but is it possible Garcia will back up TWO Hall of Fame catchers early in his major league career? Joey Bart may be brought up almost 10 years to the day after Buster was recalled in 2010. As was the case with Buster, Joey is already considered one of the very best catching prospects in the minors.
. Speaking of rookie catchers, good knowledge by the Giants' announcers to mention the 50 game minor league hitting streak of Padres catcher Francisco Mejia. Only six short of Joe DiMaggio's major league record 56 games, I wonder if Mejia's streak is a minor league record.
. Speaking of rookie catchers, the Twins' Willians Astudillo has the type of body scouts abhor, but in his 21 rookie games, he has played very position on the field except shortstop -- including pitcher -- as well as designated hitter. He's hitting .313 with an .845 OPS. An analytical's dream and a scouts' nightmare, Astudillo hit .306 in the minors, striking out only only 85 times in 2461 plate appearances.
. Astudillo has struck out only 11 times in 441 Winter League appearances, and has thus far kept up the pace in the majors, striking out only twice in his 65 appearances. Playing nine positions including pitcher and DH plus showing amazing plate control (less than one strikeout every 30 at bats) makes Astudillo close to a unique player.
. Astudillo played primarily for the AAA Rochester Red Wings this season. The Red Wings have pulled off not one, but TWO hidden ball tricks this season, including this one by Astudillo at third base.
www.milb.com/milb/news/abracadabra-astudillo-pulls-off-hidden-ball-trick-for-rochester-red-wings/c-289520148. I remember back in the early sixties, Baseball Digest had an article entitled "Right's Wrong," in which they challenged the traditional hitting the base with the right foot while cutting toward the next base, saying that using the left foot is more efficient. What technique did you guys use? For Boly in particular, what is the idea angle from which to round the bag?
baseballdebate.proboards.com/thread/469/which-foot-hit-rounding-first. Why did Hundley not use third base as a starting block when he tagged up, rather than having his foot on the top of the bag, providing no leverage and in a worst case, possibly resulting in a slip? In addition, could he not have already had his body momentum going toward home plate -- with his tag foot still touching the bag -- when the ball was caught?
. Quiz question: Since a runner can't leave the bag while tagging up until the ball is caught, why don't outfielders simply bobble the ball, throwing off the runner's timing?
. What technique did you teach, Boly, so that your base runners weren't picked off with the hidden ball trick? What technique were the rest of you taught?
. What would you guys say was the most creative technique that you came up with to use on the field? What did you feel was the most creative technique taught to you by one of your coaches?
. The announcers mentioned that Stratton's double may have taken away from his concentration on the mound. I would think that is just the type of situation Giants' mental skills coach Bob Tewksbury would help with.
. Did you guys know that 27 of the 30 major league teams have a mental skills' coach? Have you gotten around to reading Tewksberry's recent book "Ninety Percent Mental?" If so, how did you like it?
. In 1992, Tewksbury finished third in the Cy Young voting while setting a live ball record with just .0774 walks per nine innings. The following season he walked just 0.846 per nine. I think that would please even Boly!
