Aaron Hicks and the warning track

[pbrezeasap]

 

The video has three angles and is in the first post on this thread.  Watch it.

 

It's not really a matter of opinion.  The ball bounced on the warning track, something difficult to see at first glance without multiple viewings.  You want to disagree about how he played the ball...fine.  But the ball hit the wall on the bounce, not on the fly.

 

That's just a fact.  I'm willing to have an open mind about why he misplayed it (Fenway is kooky, don't blame the kid for hesitation for that), but if you're going to disagree with a fact I'm not sure you have much ground to stand on.

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with your so-called fact. After watching the video, you can hear the ball hit high off the wall and then the ground. Nobody catches that.

[Craig Arko]

The actual topic is whether or not Hicks has a continuing problem with balls hit to the warning track. One data point is not sufficient to draw any meaningful conclusion of any kind.

[Steve Lein]

Pretty sure he wasn't going to run that ball down. He was attempting to deke Pedroia, who actually did slow down around 2B.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Pretty sure he wasn't going to run that ball down. He was attempting to deke Pedroia, who actually did slow down around 2B.

 

That's the part that is hard to tell...had he continued to sprint, could he have gotten it?  I'm not sure.  I lean towards yes, but once he decided he couldn't catch the ball it becomes really hard to tell.  He definitely misread the trajectory, but as others have said the weather could have been another factor in addition to Fenway's quirks.

[Bill]

Here are videos of Hicks making good running catches on the track:

 

http://m.mlb.com/min/video/v117948283/tbmin-hicks-tracks-down-forsythes-drive-at-track

 

http://m.mlb.com/min/video/v112193983/mindet-hicks-makes-catch-near-fence-to-rob-cabrera

 

Here are links to other good plays, also while taking good routes:

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/11493214/v128475183/must-c-catch-hicks-hauls-in-out-with-incredible-dive

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/v130705183/bosmin-hicks-robs-nava-on-a-great-diving-catch/?game_pk=414316

 

Just examples, but I think he is playing good defense overall.

 

Hitting is better than it was before also, although stats are not good so far.

 

 

 

 

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

That's the part that is hard to tell...had he continued to sprint, could he have gotten it?  I'm not sure.  I lean towards yes, but once he decided he couldn't catch the ball it becomes really hard to tell.  He definitely misread the trajectory, but as others have said the weather could have been another factor in addition to Fenway's quirks.

 

I don't agree that he misread the ball, but I do agree that if he continued to sprint for it he might have gotten to it. He would then have been scraped off the wall by the trainer and coaches like an insect off a windshield. I think he made the conservative play but there's nothing wrong with that in the first inning. 

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

I'm fine with the play.  That ball was hit awfully hard to a gap and slicing.  My understanding is that the ball has been dying in the cold air which made that split second judgement about where it was going to hit off the wall even more difficult.  Hick's only play on the ball would have been to careen into the wall at an awkward angle.  I believe Torii Hunter shattered his ankle doing that in the other awkward Fenway corner a decade ago.  I don't think it was a misplay, just poor execution on the throw back in.  There's a difference between taking the conservative play and an actual misplay.  Kirby Puckett won gold gloves without ever diving headfirst for a ball in front of him.  Did he misplay balls because he didn't dive, or did he simply make conservative decisions?  

 

All of this. 

 

[JB_Iowa]

 

The other thing I forgot to mention about the radio broadcast is that, according to Gladden, after the play Hicks displayed visible disappointment that he did not catch the ball, which would seem to indicate Hicks himself thought it was catchable. Perhaps Chief can confirm/deny since he was at the game.

 

I'll agree with this.  At least on the TV broadcast, it seemed like he was looking around trying to figure out what had happened or how he had missed that ball.

 

Part of the whole learning experience in quirky ballparks.

[spinowner]

I didn't see the play or watch the replays a dozen times so I don't know if the ball was catchable. Hicks obviously thought it was not, and for that reason I commend him for having the presence of mind to make a deke. This is exactly the type of thing Molitor wanted him to learn when he pulled him from the game in spring training. Hicks had his mind in the game and for that reason he was ready to do what was needed based on the game situation. The end result didn't work out but he did slow Pedroia down so from that standpoint Hicks' strategy worked.

[ashbury]

And none of them look old enough or ornery enough to be our Chief.

NObody is old enough or ornery enough to be Chief, Chief included.

 

As for the play, going for the catch would have been a big risk. If you can't quite get to the ball and it bounces off the wall, it could go a long way and Ortiz could wind up going all the way to... second base.

[jimbo92107]

Hicks realized that he couldn't quite get to Ortiz's screaming line drive, so he tried to deek out Pedroia, and the trick worked. Unfortunately, the ball didn't carom off the wall the way Hicks expected, so he had to go farther back to get it, and after that there was no chance to get Pedrioa, who was fooled only for half a second.

 

I don't see any particular reason to criticise Aaron Hicks on this play. We can't expect any young Twins outfielder to be an expert on the outfield play Boston, which is one of the oddest parks in the league. The Boston announcers, who wouldn't pass up a chance to rag on the opposition, had nothing bad to say about Hicks's play. They even gave him credit for the fake, a good try.

 

The fake itself is a good sign, because it shows that Hicks is mentally engaged in the game. That doesn't mean every play is going to work. Pedroia was tagging up anyway, and the ball was deep enough so that even if Hicks somehow makes that catch, Pedroia scores anyway.

 

I'm not cutting Hicks any slack, but I'm not going to use this play to knock his progress in the outfield. He's generally been playing great out there. With half the Twins starters being flyball pitchers, this current outfield of Hicks, Hunter and whoever has been saving a lot of balls from hitting the ground out there.

[Willihammer]

Pedroia was tagging up anyway, and the ball was deep enough so that even if Hicks somehow makes that catch, Pedroia scores anyway.

From first?

[Willihammer]

BTW the WPA on that "double" was 12%. Tied for highest in the game with Dozier's 3rd inning home run.

[jimmer]

 

NObody is old enough or ornery enough to be Chief, Chief included.

 

As for the play, going for the catch would have been a big risk. If you can't quite get to the ball and it bounces off the wall, it could go a long way and Ortiz could wind up going all the way to... second base.

At least he didn't miss a diving catch he had no chance to get, allowing the ball to get by him, and causing us to lose a playoff game.  Now THAT would have been a boneheaded play. :-)

[jokin]

 

NObody is old enough or ornery enough to be Chief, Chief included.

 

As for the play, going for the catch would have been a big risk. If you can't quite get to the ball and it bounces off the wall, 

 

Watch the play again, the LF was backing the play up quite adequately.

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

I'd feel sorry for this poor horse, if it weren't already dead

[pbrezeasap]

 

BTW the WPA on that "double" was 12%. Tied for highest in the game with Dozier's 3rd inning home run.

 

That ball was 2 or 3 feet from being a "home run"

[TheLeviathan]

 

That ball was 2 or 3 feet from being a "home run"

 

No it was not.

[Willihammer]

That ball was 2 or 3 feet from being a "home run"

It landed on the dirt. That's what Provus said at the time and if you watch the replay it appears that way too.

 

I realize the park is unusual and weather may have been a factor. I would give Hicks more leeway there except for the fact that he has struggled on balls hit over his head before. He seems, in my view, tentative about running all the way to the wall.

[JB_Iowa]

 

 He seems, in my view, tentative about running all the way to the wall.

 

A concussion may do that to you.  Especially with this club's history.

[pbrezeasap]

 

It landed on the dirt. That's what Provus said at the time and if you watch the replay it appears that way too.

I realize the park is unusual and weather may have been a factor. I would give Hicks more leeway there except for the fact that he has struggled on balls hit over his head before. He seems, in my view, tentative about running all the way to the wall.

 

You can hear when it hits the wall and see its trajectory change, it does not hit the dirt first. Someone must have access to the new advanced ball tracking technology that could verify this.

[twinsnorth49]

 

It landed on the dirt. That's what Provus said at the time and if you watch the replay it appears that way too.

I realize the park is unusual and weather may have been a factor. I would give Hicks more leeway there except for the fact that he has struggled on balls hit over his head before. He seems, in my view, tentative about running all the way to the wall.

 

Or running right into it more likely. 

[Hrbowski]

I believe it was a misplay, but I don't think that it is an issue of concern. Heck, I've seen Lorenzo Cain misplay balls.

[twinsnorth49]

I think Willie Mays misplayed a ball, once, or so I've been told.

[jimmer]

 

I think Willie Mays misplayed a ball, once, or so I've been told.

Erroneous!

 

 

[Willihammer]

You can hear when it hits the wall and see its trajectory change, it does not hit the dirt first. Someone must have access to the new advanced ball tracking technology that could verify this.

after watching/listening again I think you may be right

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

You can hear when it hits the wall and see its trajectory change, it does not hit the dirt first. Someone must have access to the new advanced ball tracking technology that could verify this.

Holy Sh--

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are right.

 

 

 

Great job sticking with it. I was in the warning track group like everyone else until I cued in on the sound, like you suggested. I'm not sure what this means for the Internet.

[Kwak]

 

Watch the play again, the LF was backing the play up quite adequately.

Ah yes, the only twins OF who actually backs-up a play--and someone that Hicks normally doesn't play alongside.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

He still should have caught it.

[TheLeviathan]

 

He still should have caught it.

 

Yeah, now I rewatched a few times and I just can't quite tell.  Maybe it did hit just a few feet up.  It doesn't much change the fault in his misread though.