Props to Beltan for telling Reyes to "be himself" and "have fun." Hes been doing great ever since, 8-12. Sure it could be coincidence, but hey, whatever works.
Giving away an out by bunting ahead of Raul Casanova (lifetime slugging percentage .380) and Luis Castillo (lifetime slugging percentage .357). Gotta love that small ball.
Yeah, but Brady Clark is awful too. I'm usually against bunting but with 3 awful hitters in a row down 1 fairly late in the game the possibility of tying up the game without having to get a hit is pretty enticing. If the sac had been in front of Castillo instead of Casanova I would've had more of a problem with it.
As bad as Clark is, these guys are worse. If I had that little faith in Clark trying to hit I would have pinch hit Endy - even if Acta brings in a lefty pitcher you have a better chance of scoring than bunting in front of those guys. That was exactly the kind of sequence that accounts for "experts" thinking that bunting is a good idea - congratulating the bunter, but conveniently forgetting that the team didn't score.
Do you really think that Brady Clark is more likely to get on base then Casanova is to hit a sac fly/get the run in somehow though? I'm not so sure. Obviously there's more to it as Clark has to execute the sacrifice as well but just because Casanova didn't execute I don't think it makes it a bad play. That's kind of like someone in a "bunting situation" swinging away and lining out into a DP and then saying, well that's why you should sacrifice.
That's not the right equation. You bunt if you think Clark will get the bunt down and has virtually no chance of getting on base if he swings away and Casanova will hit a fly ball and not a strikeout or a groundout or a base hit (if he does any of those things the bunt wasn't necessary). Every analysis shows that a bunt is only a good play if the guy behind is a much better hitter than the guy doing the bunting, and that wasn't the case here. Hopefully the top of the order makes it moot right now for the Mets.
Anyone notice how strictly Willie is adhering to the 100 pitch rule for starters? Figueroa went for 101 pitches, and Maine and Pelfrey the two nights before went for 100. Perhaps it's coincidental, but I thought it was interesting.
