Quote:
Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist
Why do they need to "gel" though? Their isn't much chemistry outside of infield play, and it's impact on the win loss record is pretty minor overall. Pitching and hiring are highly individualistic
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There are other factors. It's not that individualistic.
1. Defensive positioning.. maybe Rasmus goes to his left better than to his right so Melky has to cover more ground. Or as you said infield play with alignment combinations.
2. Batting, players talking to other players about their at bats against certain pitchers. Guy on deck may not even know the tendencies of his own new teammate hitting in front of him, for example Bautista studying Melky. Was that a good pitch or did Melky just swing badly? Did the pitcher throw a curve because his curve is his best pitch tonight or is Melky just misreading it.
3. Base running, who tends to gamble and who doesn't. New 3rd base coach, what does he like to do.
4. More batting, can players bunt, can they hit to the left or right side. When to hit and run, when to steal.
5. Battery, JP is catching 4 new pitchers (3 if you exclude Dickey). What are all those tendencies. Can JP call offspeed when the pitcher doesn't want throw offspeed.
If you break down baseball, like it is broken down at the MLB level, there are many small factors that lead to victory. Something the Jays haven't grasped yet.
When you watch the next Jays game, try to notice everything. For example, what is the count when the Jays make an out, what is the count when the Jays get a hit. Are 4 consecutive batters striking out on curveballs? Why aren't they telling each other that the pitcher is throwing curveballs in fastball counts (pitching backwards) etc....