Monday, April 4, 2016

An ode to defence


During games I like to talk a lot about dps (double plays) and good D (defence) partly because it's a lot of fun to play with the double entendres but also because it's an aspect of the game that doesn't get talked about as much as offence and pitching. I find it every bit as sexy as a dinger.



Yesterday was a clinic, led by the captain of in the infield. Tulo has talked about his style of always throwing on the run helps him when he needs to gain that extra second and it always amazes when he does a 360 spin and then unleashes a deadly accurate throw. With all the fireworks last year I didn't truly appreciate the beauty that is him on the field but yesterday was a big yellow highlighter.

Watching Dosh (with his accurate barehanded throws), Tulo and Goins at work should be considered performance art. It makes those days of worrying about shaky throws from third, balls slipping through up the middle, and balls bouncing away from first a distant memory.

Cola was making a case yesterday to be added to this elite group. He's obviously been taking diving lessons from Pillar with the air time he got in one catch yesterday. And when Smoak is playing, not many throws get by him.

It's only a matter of time that Pillar will want to show the reigning GG holder that his time on the throne will be short. Without any flashy catches he covered a lot of ground and saved at least one double. We may not see as many flights as he works on getting to the ball sooner but it's amazing how good he is out there.

You could see how this air-tight defence emboldened Stroman and I expect that we'll see a similar clinic tonight with Dickey. The bashers will bash, the pitching will plug along. I will be sitting back and soaking in the beauty of the caught ball.