What Would Bruján Do?

In Ask OV by Rice Cube11 Comments

This link takes you to the play in question, and keep in mind this isn’t the play that lost the game, as Julian Merryweather had uncharacteristically walked the world in stupid extras and coughed up a go-ahead run already.

Per my observation, Vidal Bruján was playing kind of deep possibly to prevent any ball that could get past him from becoming a double. That of course means a longer throw to get the very speedy runner (Trea Turner) at first base and no way to run to third base for the force with bases loaded. The fan reaction suggests that Bruján should have made a play, either getting rid of the ball quicker or charging the ball, but it would have been a hard play and I’m unsure if an out is recorded regardless.

What do you think?

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  1. Author
    Rice Cube

    Yeah I’ve watched it a couple times and I’m not sure he had any play really but I’m not a professional third baseman…and I suppose arguably Brujan isn’t either (dying laughing)

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  2. andcounting

    Total misplay, not sure what else to say. Basic infield 101. He’s not a 3rd baseman. There’s a reason you don’t see guys at 3rd throwing from the outfield grass very often.

    I assume he can learn to play the position, but he doesn’t know how yet. The point isn’t to beat up on him, it’s that this team, as fun as it is to watch, doesn’t have a third baseman. Berti has 142 career starts at 3rd, so I guess that’s something?

    I didn’t mind Shaw being the plan at third heading into the season, but the backup plan has been a total adventure every time.

    All things considered, I really like this team as assembled, but we’ve got to account for the fact that they’ve made me miss Nick Madrigal.

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  3. andcounting

    Brujan has a career .839 fielding percentage at 3B. Whether that’s because of small sample size or because he’s terrible, either way he’s not a third baseman.

    But he also doesn’t fill out the lineup card or construct the roster. I’m just saying, he’s a career -1.5 WAR player and a minus defender, so by definition replacing him with a replacement level 3B should be easy, right?

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  4. Author
    Rice Cube

    andcounting,

    Matt Shaw is hitting rockets in AAA again so perhaps the solution is not that far away…Brujan at least did not let it get past him which was the main complaint about Workman.

    The one question I had is why the Cubs positioned him that far back and didn’t tell him beforehand that Turner was fast and to play accordingly, but it probably didn’t matter based on the various levels of difficulty involved with that particular play.

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  5. berselius

    Daily Walkoff ⚾️
    Cubs #241

    “HR By Decade”
    🟢🟢🟢🟢🚀

    dailywalkoff.com

    Not too bad to place based on other factors but some of the names surprised me.

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