ESPN: D-backs’ Greinke best in baseball at fielding bunts
Jul 1, 2018, 7:00 AM
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zack Greinke throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, April 25, 2018, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
(AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke has always been highly regarded for his defense.
The 34-year-old ace always puts himself in good position to field comebackers when he’s pitching.
ESPN’s Sam Miller broke down what makes Greinke the best pitcher in fielding bunts, using video examples of when Greinke was able to cut down bunt attempts and when his advanced thinking ended up costing him.
Since the start of the 2015 season, there have been 1,953 bunt hits in the majors, and Greinke hasn’t allowed any of them. There are 53 pitchers who have thrown at least 500 innings in that time, and every one of them who isn’t Greinke has allowed at least one bunt hit — and an average of seven apiece.
So far in the 2018 season, no player has even attempted a bunt on Greinke. This includes no pitchers attempting to sacrifice runners into scoring position.
Miller notes that when Greinke anticipates a bunt he makes some slight mechanical adjustments to put him in the best position to field the bunt.
When Greinke sees the bunt attempt coming, he decelerates mid-pitch in order to give himself time to angle his body toward first base. By the time that the hitter makes contact with the ball Greinke’s push-off leg is already on the ground and angled toward which side of the field he expects the bunt.
May 2014 was the last time Greinke allowed a bunt hit. This particular example wasn’t completely Greinke’s fault, as Miller breaks down in his piece.
On May 10, 2014, Greinke allowed a bunt single, to of all people, Matt Cain. The cause was Greinke’s own brilliance: In a sacrifice situation with a runner on second, Greinke gets off the mound so aggressively, charges the ball so hard, reaches over and snares it with such unlikely conviction, that his third baseman Chone Figgins never saw it coming.
As Greinke approaches the latter stage of his career, his ability to field his position has become one of his strongest skills. The fact that at 34 he’s been able to take away an offense’s ability to attack him is impressive.
