IST: Cubs 8-1 vs Rockies 5-4

[TC in Mississippi]

I blame it on TC making the thread. No more thread making for you!

Ha! Do I now go into the black cats, Bartman and goats (oh my) category?

 

[TC in Mississippi]

It's not that easy clearly. Think of it like this. You're probably scared of something. I have 0 idea why but when I'm high up in buildings like say the Washington monument it messes with me to the point where I feel like the building is moving under my feet. I have no idea what caused it to this day. And in my case it's not so debilitating that I can't go in high buildings. But when I do it I'm very uneasy about it. The weird thing is I have 0 issue looking out the window of a plane at 10's of thousands of feet high.

I'd imagine the root cause for lester is probably something similar and trying to "fix" that once it is to this point just isn't something you do over night if at all.

Exactly. My wife is terrified of spiders but she really isn't afraid of any other creepy crawler or pest at all. She actually loves snakes and gets dangerously close to them (for my tastes) to identify them. She doesn't even react to the huge bugs we sometimes see in Mississippi and she was completely non-chalant when we were in Florida last year and saw possibly the biggest scorpion I've ever seen. Makes no sense right? She's actually seen therapists about her arachnophobia and yet she still goes into a fit of terror when she sees even the tiniest of spiders. Fear is not rational and in many cases is not curable. By all accounts Jon Lester is one of the hardest working players in the game. There was a story this spring about how he was spending hours on his throw to first base and actually looking like he was making progress and then the first time he tried it in a ST game he threw the ball away. Fear is not rational nor fully explainable. The idea that this one aspect of Lester's game, while understandably frustrating, tarnishes his otherwise sterling stats has never made a ton of sense to me.

 

[brett05]

So why don't teams bunt more against Lester and make him "pay" for his fear?

 

[TC in Mississippi]

So why don't teams bunt more against Lester and make him "pay" for his fear?

Because bunting is a low percentage play that has in large part fallen out of favor . With teams not practicing it as much they're not as good at it as they should be and even in a situation against Lester it might not make sense.

 

[Omeletpants]

Mickey Mantle was the greatest drag bunter of all time

 

[Diehardfan]

Because bunting is a low percentage play that has in large part fallen out of favor . With teams not practicing it as much they're not as good at it as they should be and even in a situation against Lester it might not make sense.

Also because his personal catcher is very, very good at tracking down bunts plus Lester relies on Ross to hold runners close with occasional throws over there. It'll be real interesting to see how Lester fares after Ross retires....I couldn't figure out why the Cubs went out of their way to sign Ross until I saw Lester trying to hold runners on. It made immediate sense after that.

 

[brett05]

Because bunting is a low percentage play that has in large part fallen out of favor . With teams not practicing it as much they're not as good at it as they should be and even in a situation against Lester it might not make sense.

And I get the part of history that we are in. I also have yet to hear a credible argument against learning the bunt aspect. Not saying there isn't one but right now I think baseball has it way wrong.

 

[brett05]

Also because his personal catcher is very, very good at tracking down bunts plus Lester relies on Ross to hold runners close with occasional throws over there. It'll be real interesting to see how Lester fares after Ross retires....I couldn't figure out why the Cubs went out of their way to sign Ross until I saw Lester trying to hold runners on. It made immediate sense after that.

The issue is you can't have your catcher field bunts that are meant for the pitcher.

 

[Parade_Rain]

The issue is you can't have your catcher field bunts that are meant for the pitcher.

Lester scoops the ball to Ross as he fields it. Ross throws to 1B. It's just like the tossing to the halfback on a sweep, who then throws the TD pass. It always works!

 

[TC in Mississippi]

And I get the part of history that we are in. I also have yet to hear a credible argument against learning the bunt aspect. Not saying there isn't one but right now I think baseball has it way wrong.

For the record I don't think the bunt is always wrong but the baseball consensus is not on my side. This is a pretty good piece on the subject.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1639658-explaining-why-the-bunt-is-foolish-in-todays-mlb

 

[brett05]

Lester scoops the ball to Ross as he fields it. Ross throws to 1B. It's just like the tossing to the halfback on a sweep, who then throws the TD pass. It always works!

And for you novices our there...PR just got check mate. Touche

 

[brett05]

For the record I don't think the bunt is always wrong but the baseball consensus is not on my side. This is a pretty good piece on the subject.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1639658-explaining-why-the-bunt-is-foolish-in-todays-mlb

They aren't speaking of the Lester affect though. I think that would be something. I need a manager to do what I did in gym class. Hit the ball to the weakest player continually until they adjust. I had the easiest time doing this in Volleyball. I know, not the same as baseball but the point holds just as true. I stunk at Volleyball except for my ability to serve the ball pretty much anywhere on the other side of the court. Hit it to their weakest player and my team won way, way more than it lost. I think it would be interesting to test out.

 

[Bear Pride]

Exactly. My wife is terrified of spiders but she really isn't afraid of any other creepy crawler or pest at all. She actually loves snakes and gets dangerously close to them (for my tastes) to identify them. She doesn't even react to the huge bugs we sometimes see in Mississippi and she was completely non-chalant when we were in Florida last year and saw possibly the biggest scorpion I've ever seen. Makes no sense right? She's actually seen therapists about her arachnophobia and yet she still goes into a fit of terror when she sees even the tiniest of spiders. Fear is not rational and in many cases is not curable. By all accounts Jon Lester is one of the hardest working players in the game. There was a story this spring about how he was spending hours on his throw to first base and actually looking like he was making progress and then the first time he tried it in a ST game he threw the ball away. Fear is not rational nor fully explainable. The idea that this one aspect of Lester's game, while understandably frustrating, tarnishes his otherwise sterling stats has never made a ton of sense to me.

This supports my non athletic argument, imo. Usually, hard workers work hard cuz it doesn't come easily. On the contrary, great athletes sometimes get the "lazy" tag cuz it comes so easily to them. I just think Lester is not very athletic, myself, and is the main reason he can't make that throw. This does not mean he's not a great character and pitcher.

 

[Bear Pride]

And I get the part of history that we are in. I also have yet to hear a credible argument against learning the bunt aspect. Not saying there isn't one but right now I think baseball has it way wrong.

I agree with you on this one. Bunting is a lost art and it's sad. Especially with teams shifting like they do now. Rizzo should be able to lay down a drag bunt once a game to keep teams honest. The wort thing is the pitchers. Pitcher are terrible at the sacrifice bunt today. It should be more routine than it is to get a guy to 2nd on a sac bunt, imo.

 

[Parade_Rain]

This supports my non athletic argument, imo. Usually, hard workers work hard cuz it doesn't come easily. On the contrary, great athletes sometimes get the "lazy" tag cuz it comes so easily to them. I just think Lester is not very athletic, myself, and is the main reason he can't make that throw. This does not mean he's not a great character and pitcher.

Looking at his swing mechanics tells me you are likely wrong. Ankiel was a good enough athlete to become a position player. He could throw a strike dead to home plate from the OF, but was a basket case from the mound. Are you suggesting Steve Sax (a 2B) was a bad athlete?

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/5-worst-cases-of-yips-in-baseball4.htm



The Yips - on mlb.com
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/47124896/the-yips-difficult-to-understand-difficult-to-cure

 

[Omeletpants]

Forget the bunting, whatever happened to hitting to the opposite field? Seems like all these ego boys are trying to force hits through shifts. They think they are Ted Williams

 

[Bear Pride]

Looking at his swing mechanics tells me you are likely wrong. Ankiel was a good enough athlete to become a position player. He could throw a strike dead to home plate from the OF, but was a basket case from the mound. Are you suggesting Steve Sax (a 2B) was a bad athlete?

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/5-worst-cases-of-yips-in-baseball4.htm



The Yips - on mlb.com
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/47124896/the-yips-difficult-to-understand-difficult-to-cure

Although, 5 hits in 100 AB's tells me he can swing hard, but not make much contact.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Looking at his swing mechanics tells me you are likely wrong. Ankiel was a good enough athlete to become a position player. He could throw a strike dead to home plate from the OF, but was a basket case from the mound. Are you suggesting Steve Sax (a 2B) was a bad athlete?

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/5-worst-cases-of-yips-in-baseball4.htm



The Yips - on mlb.com
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/47124896/the-yips-difficult-to-understand-difficult-to-cure

Exactly. As I alluded to earlier I think the Yips are very much akin to fear and that piece even had a better description "misplaced focus". A few post backs Bear Pride said something which I'm not even sure he realized. "I agree it's a mental thing, but most likely cuz he knows he just can't do it". Let's look at that for a second "most likely cuz he knows he just can't do it". I agree with this, he knows he can't do it. Now logic says that's absolutely silly because of course he can do it. He performs many other aspects of his job, many of them much more difficult, at a very high level and yet in his head he knows he can't do it. I don't want to go cornball here but this bit from Star Wars is relevant to this conversation “[Luke:] I can’t believe it. [Yoda:] That is why you fail.” If you are sure you cannot do something than chances are you won't do it. Jon Lester tries but, cornball alert, there is no try.

The strangest thing about that whole train of thought though is this is a guy who's tough as nails, a playoff performer under the most scrutinized of situations and yet, he has an Achilles heel. In the offseason he does work on this but when he fails is it worth continuing during the season when he needs to keep is focus on the things he does well? I sure don't think so. the fact that he's this good a pitcher with such a weakness speaks to character and toughness more than almost anything else. Honestly when I watch Jon Lester I think I'm watching one of the best pitchers in the game, not a guy who fails to throw to first.

 

[Diehardfan]

Forget the bunting, whatever happened to hitting to the opposite field? Seems like all these ego boys are trying to force hits through shifts. They think they are Ted Williams

We finally agree on something. Where they spot the infield for Rizzo is ridiculous....you gotta make them pay for that. It's the only way to make them play you straight up. Ted Williams was too arrogant to go to the open side but he was also so good that he didn't have to. I haven't seen any Ted Williams around here lately, so guys who hit against shifts might want to look into pushing a grounder the other way a few times.

 

[Parade_Rain]

We finally agree on something. Where they spot the infield for Rizzo is ridiculous....you gotta make them pay for that. It's the only way to make them play you straight up. Ted Williams was too arrogant to go to the open side but he was also so good that he didn't have to. I haven't seen any Ted Williams around here lately, so guys who hit against shifts might want to look into pushing a grounder the other way a few times.

History is made on the inner half of the plate.