Post by jenny123 on Jan 20, 2014 22:22:05 GMT -5
TAMPA, Florida - Former Blue Jays third base/infield coach Brian Butterfield was an hours drive south with the Red Sox in Bradenton on Thursday. His presence, however, was felt in the first inning of the Blue Jays 1-0 win at Steinbrenner Field. With two outs and Ichiro Suzuki on first, Travis Hafner came to the plate. The former Indians slugger, a left-handed hitter, is known strictly as a pull hitter. It was the Blue Jays first opportunity of the spring to employ one of Butterfields favourite strategies: the infield shift. The decision paid off. Hafner hit a bullet off diving first baseman Edwin Encarnacions glove. The ball deflected in to shallow right field, directly to third baseman Brett Lawrie who was playing a deep second base. Encarnacion recovered and Lawrie threw Hafner out. Not your typical put out, the rare 3-5-3 on your scorecard. "The thing about shifting, if you hit into the shift its great but if you dont, (your players) will wonder why they were playing that way," said third base coach Luis Rivera, whos also tasked with setting the infield defense. "If I go back to the two years I was here and Ive seen those guys moving around, I think they did a great job moving those guys around." The tables were turned on the Blue Jays in the fourth when, with one out, Encarnacion was robbed by New York second baseman Jose Pirela of a base hit up the middle. Pirela was positioned behind the base, knowing Encarnacion rarely hits the ball to the right side of the infield. At its simplest the shift is a play on percentages. A games situation, too, will determine whether the shift is used. Hypothetically, its less likely Hafner would have seen an unorthodox defensive alignment had he come up in the ninth inning of todays game. The Blue Jays were up one run. Playing out this pretend scenario, had the Jays used the shift, Hafner could have taken a base hit just by slapping the ball to the opposite field. New York would have had the tying run on base, Hafner would have been replaced by a pinch-runner with better speed and the likelihood of the Yankees scoring would have increased dramatically. Last season, Tampa Bays Luke Scott laid a bunt down the third base line for a single against the shift. Carlos Pena, now with Houston, has been known to the do the same. "If one of the baseball big boys wants to bunt to third base for 10 or 15 million dollars a year, then go ahead," said Rivera. When Butterfield was with the Blue Jays through the Carlos Tosca, John Gibbons, Cito Gaston and John Farrell years, he created and controlled the infield shifts. Once an anomaly, the strategy is now commonplace. Rivera will take a more conservative approach to the shifts use, studying video and binders full of statistics on each hitter. The plan is for broader consultation amongst the coaching staff and pitchers, with manager John Gibbons having the final say. "(Pitching coach) Pete (Walker,) with some of the new pitchers, when they get their game plan together, hell sit down with Luis (Rivera) and the defensive guys and make sure it all matches up," said Gibbons. "Guys like (Mark) Buehrle, they know the guys and they know how they pitch … A guy like that, hes such a command guy, hes not going to miss a whole lot normally so were going to make sure we put the guys in spots where he likes them." Rivera already has spoken to Buehrle. "He says, the middle is mine, you can do whatever you want but the middle is mine. So I guess he feels very comfortable that if I move people off the middle (of the infield) he can catch the ball so were going to see." "Yeah I like it," said starter Brandon Morrow, who got the 3-5-3 put out in Thursdays game. "That play there speaks for itself. Ive been the benefactor of the shift a few other times and I dont think Ive ever really gotten beat by someone bunting down the line or chopping it and if they had, usually they werent trying to do that." The shift, it would seem, is here to stay; far more than a passing fad. When the Blue Jays play the Red Sox this season, with Butterfield in the other dugout, Jose Bautista and Encarnacion will assuredly see the pull-side shift on the left side of the diamond. NOTES: - Colby Rasmus originally was in the Blue Jays starting lineup against the Yankees and made the trip to Tampa. He was scratched with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, which manager John Gibbons described as "no big deal." Rasmus first felt pain on Wednesday. - Jose Reyes made two great defensive plays early in the game. In the second inning, he went deep into the hole at short to nab a Chris Stewart ground ball, turned and fired a cross-body throw to get the out. Stewart, the Yankees catcher, didnt like the call, argued and was ejected. An inning later, Reyes tracked a Brett Gardner fly ball into shallow left field, making an over-the-shoulder catch. - The Yankees always do things "big." The YES Network broadcasts a majority of spring training games, even utilizing the overhead shot from a blimp. CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte were among the current Yankees to contribute to the broadcast of Thursdays game. Darryl Strawberry, now 50 years old, was in attendance. - The Blue Jays return to Dunedin, Friday, for a date with the Tampa Bay Rays. Game time is 1:05 ET. Heres how the pitching will line up: Mark Buehrle (starts – 2 innings)Darren Oliver (1)Sean Nolin (1)David Bush (1)Mickey Storey (1)Alex Hinshaw (1)Rich Thompson (1)Neil Wagner (1) Houston Rockets Jersey UK . On your football team, you hope you have both in the extreme. Washington Wizards Jersey UK . Trinity Western beat the University of British Columbia 74-72 in a Saturday semifinal at the Final 8 tournament in Halifax. Carleton was a 95-83 winner over the University of Saskatchewan. www.nbashopofficial.co.uk/detroit-pistons/ . The 28-year-old left-hander had been sidelined for more than a year by a shoulder injury. He hasnt pitched since May 19 last season and had surgery in August to repair a capsule tear and remove debris in his rotator cuff and biceps. San Antonio Spurs Jersey UK . The women compete two routines, which are added together, to get their qualification score. MacLennan scored slightly higher than Cockburn on both of her routines, putting her in fourth place with an overall score of 104. Portland Trail Blazers Jersey UK .J. -- The Toronto Blue Jays drafted a tall, athletic pitcher with their first pick of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.BOSTON - Make it 13-straight seasons with at least 10 wins 200 innings for Mark Buehrle. If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency.” Buehrle pitched six innings of one-run ball for win number 12. With one start remaining, Buehrle has thrown 200 1/3 innings for the year. The Blue Jays beat Boston 4-2. “Hes had a tremendous year,” said manager John Gibbons. “A slow start and then he kicked it in, he was Steady Eddie and hes been doing what hes done his whole career. Its pretty amazing. Hes logged so many innings over his career. Think about that. Never been on the DL, I guess. Hes a rare guy.” If Buehrle wins his final start, Thursday in Baltimore, it will mark the fifth-straight year hes finished with 13 victories. Buehrle is the White Sox all-time leader with nine opening day starts. He threw a no-hitter on April 18, 2007, pitched a perfect game against Tampa Bay on July 23, 2009 and followed up in the next start with 5 2/3 perfect innings before allowing a base runner. In all, he retired 45-straight batters, which remains a major league record. He is one of only three pitchers in major league history – Cy Young and Sandy Koufax are the others – to throw separate perfect games and no-hitters and win a World Series, all with the same team. All are accomplishments hell better reflect on once retired. For now, Buehrle takes pride in making all of his starts, year in and year out. “Thats one thing, coming into the season, that I seet my goal at,” said Buehrle of 200 innings.dddddddddddd “Like I said before, I wish it was in a better situation and we were in a better spot but I feel like I went out there and had a pretty good year so far, going deep into games and getting to 200. It was a goal of mine I set in spring training.” “Its unbelievable,” said Brett Lawrie. “Obviously hes impressive in this game with a perfect game, a couple of no hitters. Hes the man. He just goes out there and competes and just does what he can for the team and throws strikes, gets ahead and if things dont go his way he just sucks it up and moves on to the next one. True pro.” Buehrle is appreciated by teammates in the same way as R.A. Dickey. Both are notoriously quick workers. Buehrle wastes little time in between pitches, getting the ball back from his catcher and immediately toeing the rubber. A player like Lawrie, as intense as anyone, thrives on the pace. “I know it keeps everyone else in the game just from his pace,” said Lawrie. “Hes throwing strikes. Hes keeping hitters off-balance and hes getting ground balls and hes doing what he does and its just fun because it keeps all of us in the game, allows us to get in the dugout, put up some runs for him. Hes just great to play behind.” Buehrle is respected as much off the field as he is for his work in between the lines. “You get 25 Buehrles, youre probably going to have a good year,” said Gibbons. “Need more guys like that, the Buehrles and DeRosas and those guys.” ' ' '