Every week in the Pittsburgh Pirates Fundamental Report we cover examples of fundamentally sound baseball by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
These are not necessarily clutch hits or big strikeouts, but instead are the little things that you can control as a professional baseball player. For example, hitting to the correct side of the field or taking a pitch when you should. In this week’s article, we will switch it up a little and take a detailed look at one close game. In this case, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ April 26th game against the Chicago Cubs. There were a few great examples of fundamentally sound play in this game that led to a slim 6-5 victory.
But First, a Short Discussion on Errors
When a Major League defender makes an error, sometimes is tempting to say that player does not have solid fundamentals. However, this may not always be the case. Just like everything else in baseball, the answer is “it depends”. Fundamentals apply to how the player positions himself, his footwork, how he attempts to receive the ball based on its location and velocity. There is a big difference between an infielder failing to get his glove on the ground (poor fundamentals) and a irregular hop catching him on the heel of his glove (poor infielder).
So in the Fundamental Report, we only focus on errors if there was some fundamental problem with how the player approached the play. If the ball clunked off his glove, that’s likely just an error. Just like when a hitter cracks a 105 MPH line drive right to the third baseman. It’s just an out.
Back to the April 26th Game
This was quite a game at PNC Park. The action started in the top of the first inning with Kyle Schwarber on first and Kris Bryant up to bat against Tyler Glasnow. Bryant hit a grounder up the middle which the Pirate’s second baseman, Phil Gosslein, was able to track down. His only play was to second for the force, however for some strange reason, Jordy Mercer did not come over to cover the bag. This was a fundamental breakdown on Mercer’s part and a play he’ll likely want to forget. Luckily, Glasnow struck out Addison Russell and Wilson Contreras sandwiched around a Jason Heyward walk to escape the inning.
Polanco Makes a Smart Running Decision
When the Pirates batted in the first, Gregory Polanco found himself on first and Fransisco Cervelli stepped to the plate. Cervelli hit a zinger in to the left field corner and Polanco decided to round third and try to score. Polanco knew that Kyle Schwarber did not possess a strong or accurate arm and, calculating his chances, he went for it. It turned out to be a smart play because Schwarber’s throw was off line and Polanco slid in safe for the Pirate’s second run.
Hit and Run Action
In the bottom of the second inning, the Pirates had just executed the double steal, allowing Phil Gosslein to scamper home on a Wilson Contreras error. This also allowed Josh Harrison to get to second. This set up a very cool hit and run play with Jordy Mercer at the plate. With the count 1-1 against Mercer, Harrison took off for third. The Cubs third baseman, Kris Bryant, broke for the bag to cover a potential throw, but Mercer made an exaggerated pull swing and hit the ball right through the spot where Bryant usually plays. It went in the scorebook as an infield hit but for us fundamentalists, it was great execution of a hit and run play. Harrison would later come around to score on Andrew McCutchen’s double.
Polanco’s Misplay
In the top of the 4th inning, Kris Bryant hit a double to left field, driving in Jon Jay and making the score 5-2. Bryant’s shot was well struck, but it hit Gregory Polanco on the side of the glove and bounced off. That wasn’t the bad part. The problem was the footwork leading up to the attempted catch. An outfielder is trained from a young age not to backpedal on a fly ball. Turn and run to the spot. Polanco got caught stutter stepping backwards and made the degree of difficulty for the catch much higher than it needed to be. Had he just turned and taken a few steps, he would probably have caught the ball. That would have likely prevented two runs form scoring that inning. Now you see why I went to so much trouble to talk about errors at the beginning of the article.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It went in the scorebook as an infield hit but for us fundamentalists, it was great execution of a hit and run play.[/perfectpullquote]Bell’s Instinctual Throw
In the top of the 5th inning, the Cubs were again threatening. Jon Lester was on third and Jon Jay on second with one out (Jon Jay always reaches base against the PIttsburgh Pirates). Kyle Schwaber was at the plate and hit an absolute rocket one hopper to Josh Bell at first base. Bell somehow fielded the ball and had the presence of mind to throw home to try and nail Lester. Bell, who isn’t the greatest thrower of the ball, made a pretty bad throw, but he managed to miss low. He threw the ball into the ground and got a fortuitous hop right up into Francisco Cervelli’s glove and the Pirates catcher was able to put the tag on Lester. Bell gets credit for missing in the only place where the play could still be made. I am sure Bell has received numerous reps on this very play and has been well coached to miss low if he’s going to miss. This play saved a run and likely the game.
Fundamentals on Display
We don’t have a standout fundamental player for this week. For next week’s edition we will start reporting on each player’s “fundamental percentage”. Basically, the number of times a fundamental play is executed divided by the total chances a player has to make a fundamental play. There are a few obvious cases, such as driving in a runner from third with less than two outs or moving a runner from second to third with no outs. But there are also less obvious cases that are more subjective. We will focus on the offensive side of the ball where many of the chances to make fundamental plays occur.
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