Article: Angels 2, Twins 1: Angels Steal a Victory, Spoil Santana’s CG

[Tom Froemming]

Ervin Santana gave up a homer to Kole Calhoun on the third pitch of the game. The rest of the night he was lights out. Ervin pitched his fourth complete game, which is more than any other entire team in baseball. Poor decision making by Jason Castro and the lack of timely hits all around cost the Twins a victory.Win Expectancy & Top 5 Plays Per WPA (via Fangraphs)

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Santana was brilliant, but the most pivotal throw of the game came from Castro. With runners at the corners and two outs in the sixth inning, Calhoun took off for second base. Castro threw down to second, but when Brian Dozier saw Cameron Maybin break toward the plate, he came in to cut the ball off. Unfortunately, his return throw back to the plate was too late.

 

Castro’s throw would have easily beat Calhoun, but he had put on the brakes and was going to try to get into a run-down in order to buy Maybin time. It was a quick calculation Dozier had to make, but basically as soon as that ball left Castro’s hand the Angels were going to have the lead one way or another. The decision to throw down to second base at all in that situation was inexcusable.

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

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Thursday

Twins (Jose Berrios, 3.44 ERA) vs. Baltimore (Dylan Bundy, 4.02 ERA), 7:10 pm CT

 

Bundy, the No. 4 pick of the 2011 draft, got off to a great start this season but has faded of late. In six starts since the start of June, he has a 6.61 ERA and opposing hitters have tagged him to the tune of a .950 OPS. Baltimore was 15-27 on the road entering today’s games.

 

Berrios has had some hiccups in his past two starts, giving up nine runs over 11.1 innings. In a May 24 start at Baltimore, Berrios gave up homers to J.J. Hardy (who’s currently on the DL), Chris Davis (also on the DL) and Jonathan Schoop.

 

Jose has basically split his time between catchers, but his numbers are dramatically better with Jason Castro. In 34.1 innings with Castro, Berrios has a 2.36 ERA, .463 OPS and hasn’t give up a homer. In 31 innings with Chris Gimenez, his ERA is up to 4.65, opponents are boasting an .809 OPS and he’s surrendered eight home runs.

 

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[Tom Froemming]

Y'all are going to have to let me know what you think of that double steal. My initial reaction was that Castro shouldn't have thrown to second. Maybe you pump fake there and try to pick off Maybin at third instead. 

 

But, looking at the replay over and over, I do think Dozier could've been more aggressive to the ball and gotten the throw out quicker. Terrible way to lose a game, either way.

[Rosterman]

Santana gets to rest now until the all-star game, and then comes back third in-line once the season resumes, I suppose.

 

Tough one to lose.

 

I wonder if Mauer's bat would've made any difference?

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

On the radio, Gladden made it sound like Castro didn't communicate anything to the infielders prior to the at bat. Maybe Castro had a mental lapse. If the Twins didn't have a signal ready for a first-and-third situation like that, Castro could have brought the infielders to the mound and all talked it over. I think that's why you see catchers fake the throw so often, which is what Castro probably should have done. Yet it looks like they played it like a straight steal, and Dozier had to reach above his head to corral the throw and try to get it back. The Angels executed it perfectly, too.

[mickeymental]

 

Y'all are going to have to let me know what you think of that double steal. My initial reaction was that Castro shouldn't have thrown to second. Maybe you pump fake there and try to pick off Maybin at third instead. 

 

But, looking at the replay over and over, I do think Dozier could've been more aggressive to the ball and gotten the throw out quicker. Terrible way to lose a game, either way.

the old high-school play is for the catcher to zip the throw back to the pitcher -- enough to make the runner break from third and a much easier play for the pitcher (rather than the 2b) to make.

[HitInAPinch]

 

Y'all are going to have to let me know what you think of that double steal. My initial reaction was that Castro shouldn't have thrown to second. Maybe you pump fake there and try to pick off Maybin at third instead. 

 

But, looking at the replay over and over, I do think Dozier could've been more aggressive to the ball and gotten the throw out quicker. Terrible way to lose a game, either way.

As I remember the situation, the catcher makes a quick throw to the pitcher.

[h2oface]

 

As I remember the situation, the catcher makes a quick throw to the pitcher.

 

This was the 7th time the Angels have pulled this off this year! Management should have been ready for this. The throw goes back to the pitcher, and you get the runner at home after he breaks, and you let the guy take second! That is a risk in itself, considering that Santana threw the ball into center field his last start on an easy double play grounder.....  The Angels lead the Majors in SB and are quite good at the double steal. The Twins should have been ready for this. Santana is responsible for the homer, though. The ump called a strike one on ball four on one of those Sano strikeouts. Everyday I hate it more and more that we don't use the tools available and call balls and strikes correctly, instead of letting pompous umpires guess. It was a good game, that could have used more Twins' hits. I would have Mauer (Norris is right handed) hit for Castro. I hated seeing Dozier swing at that last pitch so far outside.

[Platoon]

Oh please, please, let's not have electronically called balls and strikes. I managed,and hated umps! Then I umped, and hated managers! But they have to be part of the game. i watched most of the game, but missed a few parts. I read that the Twins suicide squeezed with two outs? And had no one to PH for Castro in the 9th as we were carrying 9? relief pitchers? Maybe we also need electronic FO people, and an electronic manager? Too bad someone doesn't invent a game we could play on like a TV screen, and eliminate all the human beings completely!

[h2oface]

Maybe swimming should go back to having humans guess at who touches the wall first too, or tennis not use the tools to get the linr call right on out or in, or horse racing at the finish. Not using better tools as they become available is the harm done to the game. We have better tools now, and it is not humanly possible to do anything but guess. There is not a game that happens that isn't affected by the incorrect calls. But Sano should have walked, that was the point. It is a crime against the game to not reward the pitcher or the batter when they are right, and the umpire is wrong, and have a true, consistent strike zone. But this is all another topic, so that is all I will have here, and not be hijacking the thread.

 

I see Mauer was ailing from back problems, and unavailable.

[ThejacKmp]

 

Y'all are going to have to let me know what you think of that double steal. My initial reaction was that Castro shouldn't have thrown to second. Maybe you pump fake there and try to pick off Maybin at third instead. 

 

But, looking at the replay over and over, I do think Dozier could've been more aggressive to the ball and gotten the throw out quicker. Terrible way to lose a game, either way.

 

It's easy to focus on that one play as the way they lost the game but I don't think it's accurate. The Twins had guys in scoring position all night long and couldn't get the job done. Two runs allowed should have been totally fine.

[ThejacKmp]

 

Oh please, please, let's not have electronically called balls and strikes. I managed,and hated umps! Then I umped, and hated managers! But they have to be part of the game. i watched most of the game, but missed a few parts. I read that the Twins suicide squeezed with two outs? And had no one to PH for Castro in the 9th as we were carrying 9? relief pitchers? Maybe we also need electronic FO people, and an electronic manager? Too bad someone doesn't invent a game we could play on like a TV screen, and eliminate all the human beings completely!

 

The Angels squeezed with two outs, not the Twins.

 

9 relief pitchers is a bit of an exaggeration by everyone - one of them is Buesnitz, who is only up for a few days until the Twins call up a starter to replace Santiago. We can argue that eight is too many (it is) but nine is a bit disingenuous.

[Darius]

I think you can focus on the one play (double steal) as the focal point of the loss. Good team figure out how to win those games, and compensate for the stagnant offense all night. Bad teams lose game because of mistakes like that. It's the highest level of professional baseball...you can never point the finger at the offense and say a huge defensive mistake doesn't really matter.

 

That's an inexcusable play to make, whether it's on Dozier or Castro. You learn how to handle those plays in middle school.

 

Especially when you're in a late inning situation, with a pitcher who was throwing the ball very well and a very good/fast base runner on third, you let the guy take second base, even if you think you may have a shot at the guy. Too many things can go wrong (bad throws, bad tag, dropped ball, etc).

 

You shouldn't need a coach to call first and third plays from the dugout for you when you're at that level.

[Cap'n Piranha]

The Angels squeezed with two outs, not the Twins.

 

9 relief pitchers is a bit of an exaggeration by everyone - one of them is Buesnitz, who is only up for a few days until the Twins call up a starter to replace Santiago. We can argue that eight is too many (it is) but nine is a bit disingenuous.

Except that the Twins need a starter for Friday, which is Santiago's spot. If they're planning on calling a starter up, why bring Busenitz up for the two days when you have your best starters going, and you're already carrying 8 relievers? My guess is the Twins just decided to do a bullpen game on Friday--if not, it means they are just throwing darts at the wall in terms of call-ups.

[mikelink45]

Recently I read a column analyzing the catchers - I believe it was Bleacher Reports - and Castro was down a lot further in ratings, even framing, than I expected.  I do not know how to analyze this, but I wonder if Castro is as good as advertising.  Is he responsible for Santana's success or is it Santana?  Berrios has had Giminez catching a lot of his games.  I am not trying to dump on Castro, but this was the big move and I would love to have a greater analysis of his play.  

 

Baseball prospectus has him #9 http://www.baseballprospectus.com/sortable/index.php?cid=1899425 which is very good. 

 

Stat Corner has him one of the worst - http://www.statcorner.com/CatcherReport.php

 

So where are we?

[Tom Froemming]

 

On the radio, Gladden made it sound like Castro didn't communicate anything to the infielders prior to the at bat. Maybe Castro had a mental lapse. If the Twins didn't have a signal ready for a first-and-third situation like that, Castro could have brought the infielders to the mound and all talked it over.

Thanks for sharing that. Whatever play was on, if there even was one, it definitely didn't look like everybody was on the same page.

 

This was the 7th time the Angels have pulled this off this year! Management should have been ready for this.

This is probably the most important thing. One way or another, the Twins should have been ready for this situation to arise. They certainly did not appear to be.

 

9 relief pitchers is a bit of an exaggeration by everyone - one of them is Buesnitz, who is only up for a few days until the Twins call up a starter to replace Santiago. We can argue that eight is too many (it is) but nine is a bit disingenuous.

What do you mean? They have nine relievers on the 25-man roster right now. That's a fact.

 

That's an inexcusable play to make, whether it's on Dozier or Castro. You learn how to handle those plays in middle school.

Especially when you're in a late inning situation, with a pitcher who was throwing the ball very well and a very good/fast base runner on third, you let the guy take second base, even if you think you may have a shot at the guy. Too many things can go wrong (bad throws, bad tag, dropped ball, etc).

You shouldn't need a coach to call first and third plays from the dugout for you when you're at that level.

I know it doesn't really matter at this point, it's water under the bridge, but I really wish somebody would've asked Castro and/or Dozier about that play. All I can find are quotes from Molitor from the postgame interview.

 

I've been scrounging around through all the gamers and can't find anything. If anybody else digs anything up from Castro or Dozier, please share.

[ThejacKmp]

 

Except that the Twins need a starter for Friday, which is Santiago's spot. If they're planning on calling a starter up, why bring Busenitz up for the two days when you have your best starters going, and you're already carrying 8 relievers? My guess is the Twins just decided to do a bullpen game on Friday--if not, it means they are just throwing darts at the wall in terms of call-ups.

 

That bullpen game thought is an interesting one and fun to ponder.

 

That said, I think you're wrong about it being throwing darts. I think they like Busenitz and saw an opportunity to get him up for a few days. No reason you can't send him back down tomorrow and bring up a starter. He's already used an option so there's no penalty.

 

The other choice would have been to call up a position player for a few days but looking at the 40 man, there's not a lot of great options. Hard to see Palka getting any time with so many LH options for the Twins. Zach Granite should probably be playing instead of riding the bench in the majors (esp with Rosario, Buxton and Kepler all hot right now). Same goes for Garver and Vielma. JRM = no.

 

The one guy you could argue could have been called up is Vargas. Since Santiago went to the DL, I believe they could have pulled him up even though he went down less than 10 days ago but maybe they didn't want to jerk him around for two days since they're down a starter. I also think that the plan may be to get Vargas back up after the break so getting that 10 days going is a plus since he may replace a reliever not going on the DL (hopefully Belisle!).

 

Buesnitz was likely the best pick - whether that's because of a bullpen game or because the Twins just wanted a useful guy on the roster before moving to someone like Jorge for a start.

[ThejacKmp]

 

What do you mean? They have nine relievers on the 25-man roster right now. That's a fact.

 

Yeah, but facts can be used in deceiving ways. There are nine relievers on right now but there's still only 13 pitchers. They're not carrying nine relievers and five starters - with Santiago on the DL they brought an extra reliever up for two days because bringing a starter up early (hoping Jorge!) is pointless.

 

There's no difference between the Twins carrying eight relievers and five starters and nine relievers and four starters. They were no more limited last night than any other night a player has to sit. Platoon argued that the Twins couldn't pinch hit for Castro because they carried nine relievers. That's not true, they couldn't pinch hit because Mauer was day-to-day and they had the same number of players they always do.

[Tommygun921]

We're there not two outs at the time of the double steal? Calhoun stopped on his way to 2nd. Why not just tag him to get out of the inning?

[Tommygun921]

So I'd put that on Dozier. Calhoun was out by a mile if Dozier tags him.

[Tom Froemming]

 

Yeah, but facts can be used in deceiving ways. There are nine relievers on right now but there's still only 13 pitchers. They're not carrying nine relievers and five starters - with Santiago on the DL they brought an extra reliever up for two days because bringing a starter up early (hoping Jorge!) is pointless.

 

There's no difference between the Twins carrying eight relievers and five starters and nine relievers and four starters. They were no more limited last night than any other night a player has to sit. Platoon argued that the Twins couldn't pinch hit for Castro because they carried nine relievers. That's not true, they couldn't pinch hit because Mauer was day-to-day and they had the same number of players they always do.

They were needlessly playing shorthanded, carrying nine bullpen guys only five days away from the All-Star break. Why is that necessary? They didn't need to bring a starter up, but they for darn sure didn't need to bring up another reliever, either.

 

As much as I feel like Busenitz didn't deserve to be demoted in the first place, it would've made a ton more sense to call up an extra bat for a couple days. Poor roster management.

[Tom Froemming]

 

So I'd put that on Dozier. Calhoun was out by a mile if Dozier tags him.

Calhoun would've got in a rundown, buying Maybin enough time to score before he was tagged out.

[jimbo92107]

We're going to need to acknowledge something about Castro and Gimenez: They're good catchers, not great ones. Both have stronger arms than Suzuki did, both have more pop in the bat than Suzuki did, but neither one is a great defensive backstop. That includes decisions like Castro's last night. 

 

To me this game highlights the need for a little better offense from the catching position, and a little more speed available off the bench. I think the Twins have both available in Rochester, New York. 

[USAFChief]

A double steal like that is basically the Angels intentionally running themselves out of the inning, but betting the Twins will be surprised and/or incapable of executing the defense. Two runners are in no man's land while the defense possesses the ball. It should be an out every time, with no run scored, provided the defense reacts properly.

 

That it worked is disturbing, mostly because it sure looks like the Twins were caught by surprise.

 

IMO, while one can point fingers in several directions for blame, the primary thing I take from it is another data point that says Molitor is a really poor game manager. We should be thanking Scosia for the free out, instead of lamenting a cheap and important run allowed.

[USAFChief]

Calhoun would've got in a rundown, buying Maybin enough time to score before he was tagged out.

Calhoun's intention was to stop short of second. That was by design.

[ashbury]

I am embarrassed that I thought Dozier took a step toward the runner coming in from first, and was thus the goat. The video shows he did the right thing all the way. The run's on Castro, though it looks like it should have been possible to make the play some way or another. Two mediocre arms adding up to a split second too slow?

[Platoon]

As to the steal, the runner on third had to have broken very early, otherwise the way it was defensed gets him. Even with Doziers arm, which btw seems to be getting a "little less stronger" lately. Dozier did what he could, chasing the guy at first was not going to keep the run from scoring. On another point, yes we could have electronic everything, but why stop at balls and strikes. 3 video umps per game. (the older ones who stopped at the brat stand too often) . They watch every play. See a shoulder twitch, BALK! A close play, REPLAY! A player mouth the F word. EJECTION. There would be no end to the level of technology or insanity, the amount of replays or the length of the game. Ugh!

Edited July 6, 2017 by Platoon

[ThejacKmp]

 

They were needlessly playing shorthanded, carrying nine bullpen guys only five days away from the All-Star break. Why is that necessary? They didn't need to bring a starter up, but they for darn sure didn't need to bring up another reliever, either.

 

As much as I feel like Busenitz didn't deserve to be demoted in the first place, it would've made a ton more sense to call up an extra bat for a couple days. Poor roster management.

 

I posted about this above if you want the full thing but it's not poor roster management. The Twins aren't adding someone to the 40-man for something like this so we're stuck looking there. Your position players are:

 

JRM, Garver, Granite, Palka, Vielma, Vargas.

 

Garver and Granite aren't served being on the bench for two days - they need to be playing. JRM = no. Vielma doesn't add much beyond a glove and wouldn't pinch-hit for Castro anyways. He should be playing. Palka is more interesting but as a left-handed bat, he doesn't fit well with the Twins - a RH pinch hitter is much more useful - and he isn't playing particularly well.

 

The interesting one is Vargas. He just got sent down the other day but was eligible to come back up within 10 days because Santiago went to the DL. And he's certainly a nice bat for the bench in late innings. That said, there are reasons not to bring him up. If the Twins send him back down Friday as one would expect, they restart the clock on his ten days. He then wouldn't be available to be on the 25 man to begin the second half. They may also not feel like jerking him up and down - Vargas needs ABs and if they didn't see getting him more than 1 pinch hit opportunity, it may not make sense for two days. He hasn't hit very well of late so some steady time in AAA might make sense. 

 

Busenitz is more useful if the Twins do a bullpen game tomorrow and allows them to not lean on guys like Belisle as much. It's an eminently defensible decision. Castro had the left-handed advantage and has some pop so outside of someone like Mauer whose OBP bodes well leading off an inning, I'm not sure pinch-hitting was called for in that spot. And though Buxton was batting right handed, he'd been swinging a hot bat so I'm not sure you'd sub for him either.

 

Regardless, the Twins didn't know Mauer wouldn't be available at all and Busenitz over Vargas makes sense, even if it turns out the Twins might have wanted to do it the other way in hindsight.

 

P.S. My hope is that Matt Belisle will be gone in the next week or so as the Twins go back to 12 pitchers and get Vargas back up.

[ThejacKmp]

 

A double steal like that is basically the Angels intentionally running themselves out of the inning, but betting the Twins will be surprised and/or incapable of executing the defense. Two runners are in no man's land while the defense possesses the ball. It should be an out every time, with no run scored, provided the defense reacts properly.

That it worked is disturbing, mostly because it sure looks like the Twins were caught by surprise.

IMO, while one can point fingers in several directions for blame, the primary thing I take from it is another data point that says Molitor is a really poor game manager. We should be thanking Scosia for the free out, instead of lamenting a cheap and important run allowed.

 

I'm not sure you can blame Molitor - this seems like an organizational thing. if the Angels had done this 7 times before, it should have been brought up in scouting and players should have been ready for it. It sure looked to me like the Twins players were flummoxed by it - seems like a scouting issue to me.

[Mike Sixel]

Bring unready, if true, is inexcusable. I really hope that their scouting and prep work is better than that. And, being able to pinch hit with granite or Garver would have been nicer than having that many pitchers.

[Deduno Abides]

Double steal: the team was asleep, even though the league leader in steals was on third base. Catcher (game manager) should have known better. Team manager also should have prepared team better. Someone in advance scouting should have raised the Angels' propensity to double steal. There are many areas of improvement. However, I would land on the catcher not noting that Maybin was on third base and there were two outs, so getting the batter gets them out of the inning unscathed.

 

Roster: a right handed bat on the bench would be more valuable than a ninth reliever. Garver can sit in Minneapolis for a couple of days, in case he's needed. It wouldn't ruin his development and he's at an age where burning an option is not a big deal. However, he wouldn't have pinch hit against Norris, a righty, anyway, so it's moot as to impact on the game.

 

Fyi to people discussing Palka as a call-up candidate: he's on the DL.