Frustrates me to no end either. I have never understood why ANY hitter that gets the shift put on them doesn't just bunt until they stop shifting. Ortiz, Giambi, just to name a few. I don't think that they are so embarrassed of their bunting as they are embarrassed of getting the "Wussy" hit. I think it takes such an enormous ego to be a successful MLB hitter that it is hard to go away from what your ego is tied to. It is easy for Ichiro to bunt for a base hit because his ego is tied to his speed, and his grace, and his contact abilities. But for Branyan and Giambi and Ortiz their egos are tied up in their lumbering power and patient approaches.
To Branyan's credit I HAVE seen him attempt a bunt of two, and Dave talked about it on the radio the other day we he did try, but I have yet to see him get one down on purpose and keep it foul (he has had a couple of cued jam shots go down the third base line for hits), and he has never attempted a bunt more than once in an AB, so maybe we will see it a few more times from him and once he does get a cheap "double" out of it he will be encouraged to do it more.
One other thing that comes to mind, after watching batters like Yuni, Lopez, Cedeno, and Guti, guys that DO take pride in their bunting and speed, guys that SHOULD be good at it fail time after time, it is quite possible that bunting on a MLB pitcher is harder than you think ;)
=== DRIVES ME CRAZY Dept. ===
Amazing that the defense over-shifts Branyan *even when Ichiro is on first.* This means that the defense is willing to concede not only a free single -- it is willing to concede even a free double. A bunt hit, with Ichiro on first, changes the situation from 1B, 0 out, to 1B + 2B, 0 out. That's the same as if Branyan led off with a double, and Ichiro walked behind him.
In the shift, the third baseman is playing SS, and cannot possibly turn a bunt into an out. Even if Mr. Friedrichsen from Up is running.
All in the world Branyan has to do, is square away and pepper the ball -- past the pitcher -- and he has a single. If he can do this even 70% of the time, he hits .700/.700/.700 AVG/OBP/SLG. He's not going to OPS 1400 swinging away.
But with a man on first, too? This is the equivalent of hitting .700/.700/1.400 -- a 2100 OPS.
...................
Instead, he chooses to swing away -- and with the shift, that is exactly the same thing as hitting against a 10-man defense! You're giving them an extra defender. With Branyan swinging away, to him the infield looks precisely as if it had a first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman, and rover on the dirt. How can you live with yourself for permitting that? :- )
(Granted, Branyan continues to smoke those whistling ground balls through the de facto 5-man infields.)
You KNOW the M's sabermetricians have pointed this out to Wok, if he didn't already know it. Branyan and Griffey can't possibly be unaware that they are looking at 1500-2000 OPS's by going "pepper" against the shift.
......................
And!
All that Griff and Branyan would have to do, is get three bunts down for hits, and THE DEFENSE WOULD STOP SHIFTING ANYWAY.
There is nothing in ML baseball that aggravates me more, than a hitter trading in a 2100 OPS for a 800 OPS, because he's hoping for a home run.
......................
Ted Williams, in My Turn At Bat, wrote quite a bit about how frustrating the shift was for him -- how annoyed he was at losing so many AVG points to it.
So why didn't he bunt? He apologized for not bunting against the shift. He said, "I've tried to do it. I just can't." In other words, he was such a horrific bunter that he believed that he couldn't get the bunt down anyway, so didn't want to embarrass themselves.
Teddy broke code and told us, the fans, why the big boppers don't mind playing against 10-man defenses: they're simply ashamed of their bunting attempts.
Managers say exactly the same thing, in code words: "It's not really fair to ask HIM to bunt."
I wish that Russell and Junior would open their minds a bit, spend some time in the cage practicing that easy little punch-bunt, and make the defenses stop shifting. It's a real shame that they don't.
Sob,
Dr D
Comments
...he'd be an 80% FT shooter instead of a 50% FT shooter.
If wishes were horses we'd all take a ride. :) Point is...Branyan is a catastrophically bad bunter because, as a kid, he was identified as being a great power hitter and no one ever asked him to learn to bunt. Now he's 33...think he can learn to do it today? It's going to be a STRUGGLE...it's not as easy for guys like Branyan to learn that skill...and the fear of looking stupid and getting boo'ed by fans who wanted to see you go for the home run...especially on a team where you AREE the power threat...the one and only!...makes doing that work not worthwhile.
If Shaq lobbed underhand...his percentage would go up, but his street cred would go way down. :)
Frustrates me too... If you can hit, you can bunt with a little practice.
I've never understood this. Griffey lays a few bunts down and they stop shifting on him which'll even add some base hits when hes hitting regularly.
Maybe they haven't tried very hard, but Branyan and Griffey have both made attempts to bunt against the shift in games this past month. The results has inevitably been a foul ball and a muttering of boos from the crowd.