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Bunting revisited

AG/DC May 16 2008 08:29 AM

I have two opinions about the old bunt-to-stay-out-of-the-DP philosophy. First is that Gary Cohen isn't without a point. Many of the studies I've seen concluding that bunting is a bad strategy have failed to factor in staying-out-of-the-double-play. This is years ago, and the researchers may have recalculated. But the other side is that many of the non-pitcher guys called on to bunt are the rabbits who bat from the left side anyhow --- Castillos --- people adept at exploding out of the box and more-or-less staying out of the DP anyhow.

batmagadanleadoff May 16 2008 08:37 AM Re: Bunting revisited

AG/DC wrote: Many of the studies I've seen concluding that bunting is a bad strategy have failed to factor in staying-out-of-the-double-play. Maybe McCovey and Stargell and Piazza should have sac bunted more often.

willpie May 16 2008 09:09 AM

Oh hi. I didn't see you there. I'm NASCAR non-legend Greg Biffle, and I'd like to talk to you about bunting. It's for losers. Remember: BIFL

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 16 2008 09:16 AM

I'd like to thank Willpie, Goodyear, Goody's Headache Powder and Raybestos Brakes for that post. I'd prefer to see Reyes swipe second and get bunted to 3rd.

willpie May 16 2008 09:25 AM

I guess my last post wasn't really a contribution at all. Bunting a runner over is essentially conceding an out. Maybe not every single time, but most of the time. I hate conceding outs; you only get 27 of them for the whole game. Unless you have a crystal ball or the world's groundballiest hitter at the plate, I can't imagine why you don't roll the dice. I think bunting falls victim to confirmation bias: any time a team bunts the runner over and that runner scores, they get the idea that it's because they didn't ground into a DP, whereas any time they ground into a DP, they could have avoided that fate by bunting the runner over.

Vic Sage May 16 2008 03:51 PM

lets not forget that its not impossible to bunt into a DP, too. I've seen it numerous times. It is a strategy that concedes an out on purpose. Best case scenario: you increase your chance to score 1 run to a marginal degree, while reducing significantly your chance of scoring more than 1... and that's if it works! The bunt could be as unsuccessful as an AB where the hitter is swinging away. the bunter can K (especially with a 2-strike bunt, where a foul ball is strike 3) or pop up or line out, or hit into a DP or a Fielder's choice. This is not to say you should NEVER do it, but it's a strategy of marginal utility, IMO. BIFL.

MFS62 May 18 2008 11:20 AM Re: Bunting revisited

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ="AG/DC"]Many of the studies I've seen concluding that bunting is a bad strategy have failed to factor in staying-out-of-the-double-play. Maybe McCovey and Stargell and Piazza should have sac bunted more often. Mantle often bunted for base hits. Later

metirish May 19 2008 10:27 AM

Saturday with the Reds down 2 - 1 against the Indians in the bottom of the ninth with runners on first and second and no outs Dusty Baker had Adam Dunn try to sac-bunt twice , Dunn failed on his two attempts before hammering a three run blast to end the game. Baker - "He's been bragging to me since spring training how he can bunt," Dunn - "I can bunt," Dunn said. "And that makes me mad that I didn't get it down. I'm serious, it really does. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I'm one of the top three bunters on the team, and now I can't get it done, and that makes me mad."

Centerfield May 19 2008 10:30 AM Re: Bunting revisited

MFS62 wrote: ="batmagadanleadoff"] ="AG/DC"]Many of the studies I've seen concluding that bunting is a bad strategy have failed to factor in staying-out-of-the-double-play. Maybe McCovey and Stargell and Piazza should have sac bunted more often. Mantle often bunted for base hits. Later Bunting for basehits is a completely different story. There is a difference between bunting with the intention to get on base, and bunting with the intention of making an out.