Runnin' Rizzo

[Felix Leiter]

Even though no one will confuse Rizzo with Rickey Henderson, he does have 7 SB already. Pretty good for someone with average speed. I mention this because the White Sox made a big deal during spring training about having Vince Coleman in camp to teach the Sox better base stealing skills. So far, they have...4 SB for the year. Looks like that didn't work out so well.

[SouthSideRyan]

I know steals don't tell the whole story, but...why did we have Travis Wood pinch run for him again?

[abuck1220]

yeah suck it white sox

[Guest]

I know steals don't tell the whole story, but...why did we have Travis Wood pinch run for him again?

 

Because Wood is faster and could have scored from 1st on a hit more easily. Rizzo's steals come from the pitcher completely ignoring him so he gets a running start to take advantage.

[SouthSideRyan]

I know steals don't tell the whole story, but...why did we have Travis Wood pinch run for him again?

 

Because Wood is faster and could have scored from 1st on a hit more easily. Rizzo's steals come from the pitcher completely ignoring him so he gets a running start to take advantage.

 

And it was such a specific situation where Wood scores and Rizzo doesn't that it wasn't worth losing your best hitter.

[Guest]

I know steals don't tell the whole story, but...why did we have Travis Wood pinch run for him again?

 

Because Wood is faster and could have scored from 1st on a hit more easily. Rizzo's steals come from the pitcher completely ignoring him so he gets a running start to take advantage.

 

And it was such a specific situation where Wood scores and Rizzo doesn't that it wasn't worth losing your best hitter.

 

Yes? There were 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th of a 1 run game, the odds of that spot getting another plate appearance were very low. Not that it was a no-brainer decision, but I was more answering the why of your initial question, which seemed to imply Rizzo's steals meaning more for his baserunning ability than it actually is.

[SouthSideRyan]

I know steals don't tell the whole story, but...why did we have Travis Wood pinch run for him again?

 

Because Wood is faster and could have scored from 1st on a hit more easily. Rizzo's steals come from the pitcher completely ignoring him so he gets a running start to take advantage.

 

And it was such a specific situation where Wood scores and Rizzo doesn't that it wasn't worth losing your best hitter.

 

Yes? There were 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th of a 1 run game, the odds of that spot getting another plate appearance were very low. Not that it was a no-brainer decision, but I was more answering the why of your initial question, which seemed to imply Rizzo's steals meaning more for his baserunning ability than it actually is.

 

I literally said they don't tell the whole story, but I don't think Rizzo studied under Davey Lopes this offseason and figured out how to get in pitchers' heads. My point is Rizzo isn't slow, and Wood isn't particularly fast. So you have a pitcher running the bases, hoping for the exact situation where only he would score and not Rizzo, and then going to play the bottom of the 9th+ in the field, removing your best hitter assuming 1 is all you score. Just seemed to be getting too cute. Wasn't crazy about Herrera pinch running yesterday either, but at least Montero is a catcher, and Herrera is an actual position player.