MIN 7, PIT 3: Rosario Sparks Comeback, Inspires Some Head-Scratching

Eddie Rosario will get roasted for the popup. And he deserves to be because you always run it out.

That said.

I've seen Brian Dozier dog at least two easy ground balls outs this year. I hope we don't start applying a different set of standards to Mr. Rosario than we do to Mr. Dozier or Mr. Mauer. MLB players play the %s and a ground ball to second and a pop up in front of the plate are outs 99.7% of the time in MLB. They should run it out but we also should cut Rosario the same break we do all pro players.

Rosario is one of my most frustrating players on this team, he makes some super good plays but too many times he just looks lost. I remember an at bat on Monday where the pitcher was struggling to hit the strike zone, he took one ball but then proceeded to strike out on 3 pitches not even close to the zone, he swung at a pitch in the dirt and was a good 3 feet away from it as if it was chest high. That kind of crap drives me nuts! I like Eddie some times but he's too all over the place for me

Not running out a routine grounder is not the same as not moving at all. Eddie does this over and over. If it was a one time thing, it would get less criticism for sure

Nope, it's actually about the same thing. If anything, the routine grounder has a better chance of hopping weird and causing a bobble. That popup is caught just about every time. Four guys could have caught it. And what's the difference between not running at all and jogging? Neither one changes the result if a miscue is made.

I can think of several reasons that Eddie gets blamed more than a Brian Dozier. One is the young guy vs. veteran thing (though really, we should blame the vet more since he should know better). More controversially, I think race and ethnicity plays a role. I'm not sure we want to descend down this path too far but there are stereotypes about Latino players that come into play, often subconsciously. 

This may be a poor place to take this and I apologize in advance if anyone gets offended but I think it's better to talk about the elephant in the room than ignore it.

I don't expect him to hustle to first on that play, but even if he was at the very least "dogging" it, he's probably safe. Any effort toward first base would have been nice, even if it was merely at a Miguel Sano homer trot pace.

To play devil's advocate, Eddie Rosario standing there clearly flummoxed the catcher who was unable to get into the play (to the extent that I thought Eddie might be called for interference). The catcher is usually the one who calls out who gets that ball. Eddie standing there may be the reason that the ball fell and Sano was able to get to 3B and score easily on a single he might not have otherwise.

Maybe we should look at it as Eddie Rosario cleverly helping a runner score?

I don't think they're necessarily held to a different standard. Rosario is just going to draw more attention for those types of plays because of the frequency with which he commits questionable baseball decisions. It's fun to joke about adventurous Eddie when the Twins have the game in hand, but if they don't have the luxury of a comfortable lead, failing to make it to 1B and later getting picked off can end up costing the team. 

Yeah, I think my point would be that we fixate on Eddie and not on mistakes made by other players (Dozier, Kepler etc.)

I think there's a reason for that - confirmation bias (kind of like how when a young football player fumbles a few time, now everyone fixates on him fumbling and then defensive players go for the fumble more often because of that rep) and a bit of a racial bias (which I guess we need to take to the Sports Bar, whatever that is).

Give me one reason for not running everything out? But then maybe that's just me.

What are the odds that someone tweaks a hamstring running hard to first? Are those odds higher on a day where it's 30 degrees out? Are those odds higher than the likelihood that an MLB player will miss a popup in front of the plate?

I don't know those numbers but it's not a simple matter of "run hard on everything". I don't want Sano busting ass down first base on a routine grounder to second. I want him moving at 3/4 speed and making sure he's available when I need him with two guys on in the 7th. If it's Nick Punto, get your butt down that line.

That was definitely not intentional.

 

In a postgame interview on FSN (available on their Twitter, but I don't have the ability to post a link right now), Sano admitted to running through the stop sign. He also said "People say I'm fat, but I'm not. I'm quick." I like that

I like it too. I don't like Sano running through stop signs. It will not usually work out.

That was definitely not intentional.

 

I dunno, Eddie seems like the kind of guy who might have thought through "I have a right to stay in this box, I can get in the way." It's actually not a bad baseball move to teach your players - you have a right to that spot and if you can legally make things better for your team, go ahead.

It did really look like he was almost trying to get in the way of the catcher.

So far this year, Eddie has turned a routine fly into a double, slid feet first into first, did not leave the batters box, and tried to get picked off. In less than ten games. This is not about race for me. It's that it happens over and over. How is that even a question?

• We talking about the Berrios game? That was not a routine fly ball. It was slicing away on a cold and windy day and it hit the wall. Not a gimme. He could make that but better OF than Rosario have missed that ball.
• No one should slide into first, but feet first is probably smarter. And many people think it is charming when Dozier or Punto do the way more stupid headfirst slide.
• He didn't try to get picked off. That's ludicrous. It was a nice move and he got caught leaning. And he was called safe.

This is why I think race/youth plays a role in this. Dozier slides headfirst into first, doesn't run out groundballs, swings at bad pitches and no one bats an eye. Rosario does it and it confirms what we already know about him and we tweak.