It’s by no means good when an opposing participant steals dwelling towards you. When it’s the opposing catcher, that is downright embarrassing.
Catcher William Contreras swiped dwelling within the third inning of the Milwaukee Brewers’ 6-0 over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday. With two outs and a 1-2 depend, Willy Adames broke for second and obtained himself in a rundown. Giants shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald inexplicably threw to 3rd base and Contreras scored and not using a throw.
Whereas the Brewers’ All-Star catcher is having one other glorious 12 months, hitting 18 dwelling runs and driving in 77 runs, that was his sixth stolen base on the season. It’s extra of an indication of the Giants’ common incompetence than Contreras’ wheels, although he did show glorious base operating.
However in an period the place baseball groups have embraced the stolen base to an enormous diploma, the Giants are lagging behind. Stolen bases elevated by 41 p.c in 2023 after rule adjustments widened the bases and restricted pitchers’ capability to make pickoff throws. Not solely are groups stealing extra bases, they’re doing it extra effectively. … Simply not in San Francisco.
The Giants are tied for final within the massive leagues with solely 55 stolen bases on the season. They’ve additionally allowed essentially the most stolen bases with 128 after Thursday’s two-steal effort by the Brewers. In different phrases, they’re not ready for baseball’s stolen base revival, on both facet of the ball. Partially due to the membership’s reliance on including veteran free brokers practically each offseason, the workforce tends to be older, and thus slower, on the offensive facet.
However there’s no excuse for giving up steals of dwelling on performs that Little League groups routinely thwart. The whopping stolen base disparity is an enormous purpose why the Giants are above common in superior stats for each offense and pitching, however are presently under .500 and practically out of the playoff race.
Finally, it proves that to make a playoff run in baseball, you want to have the ability to run, or no less than cease the run. The Giants can’t do both, and as outcome, they’ll be staying dwelling for a 3rd straight October.
