The Domino Effect of Baseball, a breakdown

Let's talk about the domino effect of baseball something that I love getting on base grabbing the extra base Making the defenders change their positioning and then taking advantage of that new positioning It's small ball a lot of people that watch the breakdowns don't watch full games or don't really dive into the nuances So that's kind of what I enjoy sharing and highlighting. This one is brought to you by draft kings Thank you to draft kings for sponsoring the video and let's go talk about what i'm talking about It's battle of texas. It's the rangers and the astros. They played a series in the first and second game of their series both Or one with small ball moves late in the game to grab the lead first game I'm talking about the astros are winning by one run in the bottom of the eighth inning There are some really cool facts around this the astros were 30 and oh at this point when they had the lead In the seventh inning or later and the rangers though They at this point were coming back and winning a lot of games via the comeback So, let's see. It's kind of like, you know, which one's gonna win the battle here That's a strike to heim and he says I didn't like that I'll just swing it the next one puts the fastball in play. He represents the tying run. He's on first base There's no outs. So maybe it's a little momentum. He looks at the dugout says let's go. Let's go and they say Okay, we're gonna go but you're out You're out because you're not that fast And we want him to steal a base and get himself in scoring position now scoring position in baseball That means second base or third base He steals the texas rangers lead the league in stolen bases and this changes a lot Because now there's no force out meaning the double play Is much harder to come by and also the batter's mindset here is I just got to move that runner to third base So he wants to hit it on that side of the field Now if that guy colberson was still on first base over here the first baseman fields this ball Throws it to second he catches it. They get the out there throws it back two outs But because he stole the base, that's not an option and now they get the one out But the tying run Is on third base He's 90 feet away and he's going to get pats on the back and good job And this couple is yawning and they're bored and he even gets high fives for the ground out Some new baseball fans might be like why is he getting congratulated? Well, he moved the runner over And now the next batter comes up and he's going to scan the infield and see what's going on And they have the infield in that's to get to balls quicker So they can field it release it throw it home to get the runner out because that's the tying run So you see all the infielders are close to the grass. They're in that's the domino effect that we've had already Just from stealing the base you avoid the double play now the infield's in Which means this batter just got to put it in play and you can get it past him That's an out if not for the present situation and now the game is tied and he's on first base He represents the go ahead run and they said let's run it back. Let's steal again. We're the rangers We got nothing to lose maldonado. The catcher's like, uh, you sure good looks like he's ******* out to me And look, he should have been out but he swin moves the tag with his arm and his leg Kind of nutty so now the go ahead runs on second that ball is spiked he moves to third And now it's even more scary a lot of times with a runner on third That means the pitcher is not going to throw a ball in the dirt again Like he just did because then they can score on a pass ball while pitch The batter can put that into his head and say i'll probably see fast balls or balls over the plate here Unless they have a really really good catcher Or a ballsy pitcher As you can see the infield is in again this time to cut off the go ahead run and because it's a lefty They're not only in on the grass. They're also shifting to the right side Leaving that left side wide open and backyard brad miller says i'm a professional hitter. I'll just squib one that way That's not a good hit, you know, it is for the situation They're excited in texas because now they've come back They've taken the lead And they have one real hit this couple's excited clapping Now naris scared to throw strikes. They want to get beat again with some cheap hit So just outside outside outside outside They walk That batter and then dusty says you know what? Sorry, buddy. You got to get out not really your fault Unless you know, sometimes you can steal bases on the pitcher because they're slow to home It's not always the catcher's fault those two stolen bases manufactured the tying in the go-ahead run and then Here's a little other thing Look at this pitch That's a decent contact. He pulled it foul on the curveball and then that's the fastball and look at his reaction to the fastball Oh, he was way late on it. Look at those hands Way late on that. I don't know if you read the body language there. You're probably saying he's sitting off speed gets off speed again Swings gets the same pitch as the first one and this time puts it in play Another real hit with two strikes on but they don't score He gets held at third because the outfield made a nice play. It's like, okay really want more of the lead You can see he's running round and third third base coach was saying go and then I guess they just said pull on the brakes Y'all back back back back back doesn't matter because they put it in play altuve bobbles It can't make the double play that allows another run to score And that's how the rangers came back those two stolen bases changed the dynamic of this entire inning Took away the double play Made them bring the infield in The next night now we're going to see altuve on the other side of the ball where they contribute the next night The rangers are up Three to zero against the astros altuve is in the box. He's the leadoff hitter takes that high Look at the strike zone they have for him like it's not What is that strike zone that's just his that's too small That's tiny look at that strike zone. It's his belt. That's not that's not real. That's a fake box Anyway, altuve puts it in play. He's gonna get on base now. He's not the tying run or the go-ahead run They got a lot more they got to do but they got brantley up the hit man He takes that pitch for a strike good call blue the next pitch he puts in play altuve is running hard It's kind of a slow roller. So altuve decides he's gonna go first to third and he gets in there Oh, it was closer than he wanted it to be you could see his face right here. He's like I didn't realize it was gonna be that close after the game. He was like, yeah, I probably wouldn't do that again That was kind of close. He's got a good arm out there going first to third is good That's something people keep track of that's something you get pats on the head about That's uh something the astros actually aren't good at this year They're second in the league at uh, well They're second and second worst in the league at extra bases taken and I think they're fourth worst at going first to third on singles But going first to third is great, you know Otherwise it'd be first and second the triple play would be in order not that that's actually going to happen But bregman's up now And he takes that one For a strike little delayed call by the ump that one's outside the count is one and one the next pitch in play and this is where See, I don't know. I don't know if you give uh credit here to altuve or we get upset with seager I'll let you watch it first. I'll explain he comes home to cut off the run now The runner should be out way out and then they botch the run down and that's the power of balls in play and making the defense do their job For three years mlb kind of said defense doesn't matter and now it's really biting them because I think infield defense has been Awful this year should he have just gone to second? That's the big question coming here because altuve goes to third He's got the run on his mind and he wants to get altuve out But if he fields this and throws it to second, they have an easy double play they go boom Boom now the run would score it would become a three to one game, but I think that's fine Because you get two outs and then you still have another inning. It's uh, that's a true trade-off I'm sure there's people that disagree with me and they said no you gotta get that run and they should have had the run It's not the shortstop. Corey seager's fault that they didn't get the run. It's they botched the run down because The catcher threw it just you know too hard for the guy. I couldn't handle it. I'm just joking It was in his glove. He botched it and then he botches it and then brantley gets to third which is important He follows the play Look at the crowd reaction. Now. You got second and third that could have been And that could have been bases empty two outs I think you got to get that double play because it could have been bases empty two outs a one three to one game And now it goes wrong and both runners advance. So you see that with second and third you don't have the force You got alvarez up It's ******* really good He puts it in play and now an out scores a run because the misplay Because brantley followed the play on the base paths now an out scores a run now. They're one Run away and tucker says nah Now we have the lead. It's a two run home run. That's not small ball. That's a big ball that was uh, they scored like four runs on nine pitches there or something like that and Rangers are a bit stunned seager's like ----. Should I turn the double play? He's like ----. Should i've just caught that ball? Tubi's like maybe I should have gotten first or third Maybe I don't regret it And that's just a little bit the power of small ball and taking the extra base and how much one tiny thing Can change everything else and why I like baseball because it's a strategy game and you can you can you can win games By doing stuff that does not show up in the box score at all Thank you to draft kings for sponsoring this video. I appreciate them very much. Hopefully you enjoyed it I know nothing crazy happened at all for people that watch baseball every day. They're just gonna be like dude That was just a video about baseball. I was like, yep. Sure. That's what I love