Acta Goes Against "The Book"

Chico is hitting better than he is pitching this season. Last I knew he was still trying to catch up with Zito for most losses in NL.

As I mentioned here, most announcers don't understand the game well enough to make a legitmate argument to second guessing on field strategy as it is. I, for one, am not shocked the Pirates announcers were surprised, since they likely had no clue to what was happening in front of them.

The situation referred to clearly did not call for a sacrifice, for several reasons.

• Batter/pitcher matchup: The pitcher in this situation was Paul Maholm, a soft tossing lefty. The batter, Matt Chico, is also a lefty. Pitchers usually don't take batting practice, therefore they don't often see alot of breaking stuff. It is much easier for a bad hitter to bunt a fastball than it is anything else. So, with a junkballer on the mound, the success rate for a sacrifice actually goes down.

• The batter: Chico is considered a good hitting pitcher. As Tim mentioned, his career average is only .167, but with a runner on first it jumps to .333 (3-9). His career spray chart shows he pulls the ball on the ground and goes the opposite way in the air. A sure sign of a bad hitter, but the sign of a good hitting pitcher. Chico, however, is not a good bunter, so in both situations, swinging away is a better option.

• The runner: The runner on first was Paul LoDuca, the catcher. LoDuca is considered a good runner for a catcher, however in the big picture is average at best. LoDuca is also recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery and was playing in only his 14th game of the season. Under normal game situations, it would take a perfect bunt to get LoDuca to second without a play. The last thing Acta wanted in this situation was a poor bunt by Chico resulting in a play at second where LoDuca would be required to slide, an unecessary situation for a player coming off an injury.

• The situation: It was the second inning. The Nationals were up 2-1. Maholm had allowed hits to five of the first eight hitters. As a manager, you don't want to sacrifice an out against a pitcher you are pounding the crap out of. LaRoche was also playing in, even a decently struck pitch would get by him. And the hit was not "sharply" struck, it was hit slow enough as to allow an injured runner to reach third on the play.

So what you have is a lefty swinging, pull hitting pitcher against a junkballing lefty (easier to pull), who has failed to record an out against six of the eight previous hitters he has faced, against a defense set up to allow for hitting in the hole.

Looking at the situation, it would have been a shock if Chico did bunt. Acta did in fact go by, and relied on, "the book", as he should have.

He's likely never heard of the other one.