Game Thread: 9.12 bucs @ Gs

[LHG]

Kuip has been raving about this play since it happened. He says it is a prep play, not an instinct play, but that in order to pull it off, you have to be SUPER experienced. He is shocked it happened with a young rookie and thinks it shows that Dubon has a very high baseball IQ.

I would argue that it is a bit of both. He was probably prepped on it but it would be easy to make the "rookie mistake" and default to firing over to first. Dubon's body and head were going to 1st but he had the wherewithal to check the lead runner, see the 3rd baseman hustling and make the quick adjustment to throw to 3rd to just the right spot to make it easy for the 3rd baseman (although he did almost throw it away) to tag the runner out.
Regardless, though, of how that play is considered (prep vs instinct) it is a thing of beauty. I could watch that play over and over again.

 

[calsnowskier]

I would argue that it is a bit of both. He was probably prepped on it but it would be easy to make the "rookie mistake" and default to firing over to first. Dubon's body and head were going to 1st but he had the wherewithal to check the lead runner, see the 3rd baseman hustling and make the quick adjustment to throw to 3rd to just the right spot to make it easy for the 3rd baseman (although he did almost throw it away) to tag the runner out.
Regardless, though, of how that play is considered (prep vs instinct) it is a thing of beauty. I could watch that play over and over again.

Fair enough.

I think Dubon has already pretty much cemented his spot as the opening day 2B. The big question is if he has enough of an arm to eventually displace Craw, though.

 

[LHG]

Fair enough.

I think Dubon has already pretty much cemented his spot as the opening day 2B. The big question is if he has enough of an arm to eventually displace Craw, though.

Agreed, regarding Dubon at 2nd. His bat looks decent and has played well enough defensively that he deserves that spot. I hope that Solano is brought back to serve as his and Crawford's back up. He earned that this year. I just don't understand why his playing time has been reduced this month. He's only had 15 ABs this month after getting 59 last month.
The way I see it playing out with Crawford is that he continues to start at short through the rest of his contract, unless his defense slips significantly. We'll have to endure a few more years of his weak bat, hoping that Hunter Pence's new swing somehow magically transfers to him. I would guess Luciano is still a year or two away from replacing Crawford after 2021, so there may be a stopgap guy picked up for 2022.