The Cubs have used four different left fielders, three different center fielders, three different third basemen, and two different right fielders.
|
|
"We needed more fielders tonight," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.
|
|
The fielders took off their hats and prepared to bat.
|
|
Fielders are trying to catch the ball and retire the runner.
|
|
They had a number of left fielders — Gene Hermanski was one.
|
|
He also hopes that his example will minimize risks for other fielders.
|
|
For fielders, it means perfecting the routine plays while giving maximum effort.
|
|
Goldschmidt runs better, but both rank among the best fielders at first.
|
|
Programmers slack the responsibility of the fielders' safety onto these detached machines.
|
|
Then he can trust his fielders, or himself, to take care of it.
|
|
But that can be misleading because Cubs fielders reached more balls than most teams.
|
|
The Cubs are excellent because they are fantastic hitters, terrific pitchers, and exceptional fielders.
|
|
He ranks second among AL center fielders with 12 defensive runs saved (in 55 games).
|
|
And with that, the story is usually over, and the fielders have their marching orders.
|
|
But perhaps the most distressing thing to learn is that the fielders DON'T WEAR GLOVES.
|
|
But he had no idea where the fielders were standing when the pitch was thrown.
|
|
"We have three center fielders in our outfield at all times," starter David Price said.
|
|
Nix's three plays represented merely half of the defensive gems turned in by Padres fielders.
|
|
The Padres, on the other hand, showed how much of a difference athletic fielders make.
|
|
In 21858, William Safire devoted a Times column to the topic and put forth numerous ideas, including that left field was often deeper than right in early baseball stadiums, that weaker fielders were put in left and that left fielders tended to play farther back.
|
|
Their pitchers walked 11 men; their fumble-fingered fielders dropped pickoff attempts and double-play balls.
|
|
This time, he blurted out an answer in English about one of the fielders he admires.
|
|
He followed through with investments in analytics and veteran fielders, and commissioned studies of sleep patterns.
|
|
The Angels are down two center-fielders with Mike Trout and Cameron Maybin on the disabled list.
|
|
The ball has bells inside so that fielders can hear where it lands and scramble for it.
|
|
Lesson 3: There are batters, fielders and bowlers Again, this does NOT make cricket similar to baseball.
|
|
Herrera leads all center fielders in doubles (16), hitting two in each of his last two games.
|
|
They stationed fielders all over the diamond, as is now the norm, and turned hits into outs.
|
|
During the first three innings on Saturday, the Yankees smashed some balls at well-positioned Astros fielders.
|
|
The drizzly conditions transformed flyouts and popups into fuzzy pellets that became tricky for fielders to track.
|
|
In this instance all the fielders are putting pressure on the batsman, fielding very close to his wicket.
|
|
Among those fielders was second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who returned from missing three weeks with left knee inflammation.
|
|
The two outfield assists raised Mancini's season total to six, tops among all left fielders in the majors.
|
|
For Rizzo's go-ahead hit, the crowd was so loud that it may have affected the Nationals' fielders.
|
|
His line drives are hit with such force that fielders are left with no choice but to freeze.
|
|
During the playoffs, the cricket teams were so tightly packed that the fielders from separate games overlapped each other.
|
|
In the end, though, it's the fielders' athleticism and instincts that makes good on the promise of the new data.
|
|
The batters and the bowler do their stuff in the pitch, and the fielders stand around in the oval part.
|
|
The ball dropped between the two fielders for a gift two-run double, giving Chicago a quick 3-0 lead.
|
|
The Mets reportedly complained to Major League Baseball about the Dodgers using a global positioning device to situate their fielders.
|
|
He stayed one inning in Arlington, watching each pitcher and taking a cursory look at the up-the-middle fielders.
|
|
"When the ball is on the ground, it puts a greater burden on the fielders; things can happen," Williams wrote.
|
|
Legend has it that one time, Paige intentionally walked the bases loaded — and then told his fielders to sit down.
|
|
It's not hard to imagine the original Color Fielders, for whom abstraction and flatness were sacred, spinning in their graves.
|
|
To improve offense, eliminate radical shifts by fixing the locations of fielders within zones until the ball reaches the plate.
|
|
He doesn't beat himself with walks: He throws it over the plate and he lets his fielders do what they do.
|
|
Duvall who leads all major league left fielders in homers, RBIs and extra-base hits is wearing a guard on his foot.
|
|
He rode the buses, scrounged for meals and learned how to use a thin-handled fungo bat to warm up the fielders.
|
|
How many other center fielders (with a minimum 100 games) have hit 33 homers with an O.P.S. as high as Trout's 1.083?
|
|
Yankees fielders caught five line drives, with Chase Headley twice turning in acrobatic plays at third on balls hit by Alcides Escobar.
|
|
He then fanned Adeiny Hechavarria to end the inning, and he and the other fielders congratulated Hicks as they headed into the dugout.
|
|
The fielders try to get the batsmen out by hitting the wooden wicket or catching an errant shot (among other methods of dismissal).
|
|
He has also endeared himself to his teammates with his steady pace, which makes his battery-mate and fielders more comfortable and focused.
|
|
Catchers frame pitches to fool umpires, batters pretend to be struck by pitches, and base runners leave the baseline to interfere with fielders.
|
|
If we go by position, FanGraphs has Walker 12th among right fielders in career WAR, with all 11 ahead of him in Cooperstown.
|
|
According to the statistical website FanGraphs, Judge began Sunday with six runs saved by his defense, the most among American League right fielders.
|
|
Before games, Hill makes subtle divot marks around the infield so fielders know precisely where to go when he waves them left or right.
|
|
"It was one of those games where you hit the ball straight to the fielders, but that's all," Texas second baseman Rougned Odor said.
|
|
Sometimes Paige would instruct his fielders to sit down just to show how confident he was that he would strike out the next batter.
|
|
Terrance Gore pinch-ran for Soler, stole third and scored on a bloop single by Cheslor Cuthbert that dropped between three fielders in right.
|
|
The ball dropped between the two miscommunicating fielders for a gift double, scoring Rizzo and Zobrist and giving Chicago a quick 21995-26 lead.
|
|
Their opponents had, for the past few months, been using substitute fielders not only as replacements for injured players, but also as tactical pawns.
|
|
Their outfield was much weaker, and the Seattle Mariners were looking for a place to trade Griffey, one of the best center fielders in history.
|
|
He is one of the finest defensive center fielders in baseball, an acrobat with a glove who puts batters away with highlight-reel diving catches.
|
|
One trend, though, seems clear: Their use of the shift — a popular tactic that atypically positions fielders to match a batter's tendencies — has gotten worse.
|
|
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which administers the laws of the game, subsequently limited the number of close fielders and head-height balls that are allowed.
|
|
The Dodgers reportedly asked the Mets if they could paint lines on the Citi Field grass as markers for their fielders, but Alderson denied the request.
|
|
"You used better judgment than I did, Al," he will say quietly, and then go about his timeless task of wagging his scorecard at his fielders.
|
|
He is ranked 16th on the JAWS system; Larry Walker, Joe Jackson, and Dwight Evans the only right fielders who are better but not in Cooperstown.
|
|
Marlins rookie Brian Anderson, who leads all National League right fielders in defensive runs saved, went 3-for-3, scored three runs and made a diving catch.
|
|
The league could insert those double first base bags to prevent runners from stepping on the heels of fielders like this: They're on sale for $34.12 at Amazon.
|
|
The purest measures of pitching quality—and best predictors of future performance—are strikeouts, walks, and home runs, the events that end a plate appearance without involving the fielders.
|
|
Pillar, one of MLB's best defensive center fielders, shouted at Atlanta's Jason Motte after striking out to end the seventh inning on what he felt was a quick pitch.
|
|
Where the fielders are tells you a lot about the tactics the captain of the cricket team is using, but not all the data turned out to be useful.
|
|
Neither Judge nor Stanton has played left field in a major league game, but they were rated as two of the better defensive right fielders in baseball last season.
|
|
"We talk about guys' hands all the time, but really, the great fielders have great feet and are able to keep athletic and create hops" for themselves, Boone said.
|
|
Adeiny Hechavarria blooped a double down the right field line that fell among three fielders and scored on Corey Dickerson's single to give the Rays a 4-1 lead.
|
|
Stanton and Judge are primarily right fielders, but they could be shifted among designated hitter, right field and left field in conjunction with Brett Gardner, the current left fielder.
|
|
Lorenzo Cain, one of the fastest centre fielders in the game, managed to get a deal done with the Milwaukee Brewers in late January—still quite tardy by historical standards.
|
|
As baseball has tilted ever more toward defense, with a renewed emphasis on brilliant pitching and athletic fielders, one-dimensional pure-beef power hitters like Duvall have become increasingly scarce.
|
|
Those absent included star third baseman Anthony Rendon, center fielders Victor Robles and Michael A. Taylor, infielder Wilmer Difo and pitchers Sean Doolittle, Joe Ross, Javy Guerra and Wander Suero.
|
|
Batting in the eighth inning, with two outs and a runner on second in a tie game, Rizzo lofted a single between three helpless fielders in medium left-center field.
|
|
Naturally the Battle-fielders out there aren't about to be easily swayed, but what I saw of this in action—both in a group presentation and [REDACTED]—was very promising, indeed.
|
|
Oppenheimer also said two center fielders — Dom Thompson-Williams, a fifth-round pick out of South Carolina, and Jordan Scott, a 14th-round pick from the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
|
|
With the acquisition of Stanton, who is rated by many metrics as one of the better defensive right fielders in baseball, there will be even fewer opportunities for Ellsbury to play.
|
|
Of course, some fielders still try to create a scuff: Catchers may deliberately short-hop their throws before innings, and outfielders may do the same on routine throws to the infield.
|
|
Some longtime observers consider the shifting landscape — hitters swinging for the fences, pitchers throwing everything with maximum effort, fielders standing in unusual spots — and wonder what has happened to their game.
|
|
An errant throw used to be problematic for infielders, Cora said, because fielders believed they had to catch it and then scramble back to the base to tag the runner there.
|
|
Rizzo could become more aggressive filling out his roster, which for fielders would only have holes at second base (who pairs with Howie Kendrick?), first base (Ryan Zimmerman or Matt Adams
|
|
With Ozuna, just the man Atlanta did not want to see in the batter's box, approaching the plate, the Braves' fielders played deep, the shadows by then covering almost all of the grass.
|
|
But Statcast's current impact pales in comparison to its potential achievements: the quantification of how well fielders play their positions, which baseball watchers have been trying to do without success since the sport's beginning.
|
|
They have been among baseball's most shift-happy teams, placing fielders where their statistical models say balls are most likely to be hit — not just by a particular hitter, but in a particular count.
|
|
We signed and cut players, built a scouting department with a volunteer staff of eight, installed high-tech cameras to track pitches on our home field and told our fielders precisely where to stand.
|
|
Castro also knew that the wind blowing in would transform Wrigley Field, the brick-and-ivy bandbox, into a pitchers' paradise and turn just about any fly ball into a carnival ride for fielders.
|
|
As loads of data have revolutionized the sport and the level of sophistication required to play each position has risen, more and more teams are employing positioning cards to guide their fielders through every game.
|
|
Yet the fact that he may hit all around the plate, must run if he so much as foul-tips the ball, and that fielders wear no protective glove was perplexing to some of the scholars.
|
|
Eventually, the outlines of the batters' boxes were repainted white, and the Yankees' fielders began tossing along the first-base line while Barry Manilow's "I Made It Through the Rain" played through the stadium's sound system.
|
|
The website Fangraphs ranked Andujar's defense 120th out of 124 qualified fielders, and graded him last in Ultimate Zone Ranking, estimating that he cost the Yankees 226 more runs than an average defender at third base.
|
|
There is not much ground for fielders to cover because the right-field corner is only 314 feet from home plate, and the wall runs without much of a curve toward the bullpen in right-center.
|
|
Depending on which metrics you choose out of the ever-expanding world of advanced analytics, Yankees fielders have been better than last year, or maybe worse, but probably close to average in the majors this year.
|
|
If a ball is successfully batted by the one batter and the fielders have to scramble to retrieve it, the two batters run back and forth between the lines of the pitch as fast as they can.
|
|
So, to review: The batter's job is to bat the ball in a way that eludes the fielders or leaves the field altogether, and the bowler's job is to befuddle the batter and destroy a precarious arrangement of sticks.
|
|
San Francisco left fielder Jarrett Parker is 0-for-63 this season and Giants left fielders are a combined 0-for-22, but manager Bruce Bochy said he's sticking with the trio of Parker, Chris Marrero and Aaron Hill.
|
|
The first is the "Bodyline" series of 1932-33 between England and Australia, in which the English positioned several fielders close to the Australian batsmen while bowling at their head and ribs, in the hope of inducing a fended catch.
|
|
Both teams started the game without their center fielders — the Rays played without Kevin Kiermaier, who left each of the two previous games with a lingering illness, and the Astros played without George Springer, who left Saturday's game with discomfort in a hamstring.
|
|
Then there's other data like how long the bowler has been in, how long the batsman has been at the crease, are they the first or last bat of the day, what position the fielders are in, even what the weather is like.
|
|
It's a strange, new world for Backman: the bases have been enlarged to prevent runners from stepping on fielders' feet, mound visits from the dugout are prohibited and shifts will be outlawed — two defenders must be positioned on either side of second base.
|
|
Luhnow acknowledged that extreme infield shifts spring directly from data, which — quite logically — encourages fielders to play in spots where batters are most likely to hit the ball, and thus encourages batters to hit balls over the shift and into the seats.
|
|
According to Roger Angell's book "Game Time,'' Homer did well in rehearsals, but in his first real test, he touched first base and second, then ran into center field, where "three fielders, two ushers and the handler'' had to reel him in.
|
|
And it pointed to two recent changes to enhance safety: Catchers cannot block the plate without possessing the ball, and on potential double plays, runners cannot change their path to the base or use a roll block to make contact with fielders.
|
|
He never did learn to take a walk, though; his theory of hitting was that if you go down in the count 0-2 you should swing at the inevitable waste pitch because that's not something the pitcher and fielders will expect.
|
|
The loss was the Indians' first in the postseason, after six wins in which virtually everything they did worked to perfection — from the decisions of Manager Terry Francona to the stellar pitching of their relief corps and the sparkling defensive play of their fielders.
|
|
Among the Holy Trinity, only A-Rod could go toe-to-toe with the big-time sluggers, and even today shortstops as a whole don't hit anywhere near as well as first basemen or left fielders, though with the current group that may change.
|
|
Mets Manager Terry Collins said the combination of the new slide rule and the ability to review neighborhood plays, in which fielders are often given credit for simply being near the bag when they receive the ball during a double-play attempt, could have dangerous consequences.
|
|
The two-time MVP is riding a career-high 17-game hitting streak for the Angels, who have won eight of their last 12 but need more production from veteran left fielders Maybin and Ben Revere, who have combined for one home run and eight RBIs.
|
|
With pitchers throwing harder than ever, an enlarged strike zone putting batters at a disadvantage and big-data-driven defensive shifts increasing the odds that fielders scoop up the balls that hitters do put into play, the downward spiral in offence appeared to have no end in sight.
|
|
It's the warm weather, it's the leisurely pace, it's too many Bud Light Limes—or, maybe, it's because instant replay reviews, and the minutes-long pauses in game action they demand, leave you gaping at the JumboTron while your team's outfielders sit on the grass like bored tee-ball right fielders.
|
|
Other potential explanations for the trend: The swing of a left-handed hitter automatically twists the batter in the direction of first base (making it easier to take off for the bag after contact), left-handed batters start off closer to first base, pitchers may have less experience throwing to lefties because they are less common, and right fielders may be slightly less skilled than other players.
|
|