FYI...Mickey Mantle used to love to bunt with two strikes. Just sayin...
The problem isn't bunting with two strikes, the problem is being good enough, and having enough bat control to do it well. You get out 62% of the time if you're a damn good player, so if you can bunt with two strikes and get on at a higher rate than 33% (it goes down because OBP goes down with 2 strikes) I wouldn't consider it a bad move. Especially for a hitter with little power like Hamilton.
I don't see how bunting it foul and getting out is any worse than striking out traditionally or grounding out to the 2nd baseman for a hitter of Hamilton's type (for someone like Votto sure).
Bakersfield doubles its win total for the season by defeating the Empire 5-1.
Carlos Contreras with another excellent start. 6IP 2H 1ER 2BB 8K. He retired the final eight batters that he faced. Jake Johnson, Jimmy Moran and Brooks Pinckard handled the final three innings in stellar fashion.
Offensively, Ryan Wright went 2-3, including a single, a triple and a walk. He scored twice.
Yorman had the aformentioned double and homer, scoring a run and driving in a pair.
Juan Silverio and Juan Duran, both following Crash Davis' advice, had a walk and a knock. Sammy Diaz doubled. Juan Silva and Dominic D'Anna each singled.
MILB RECAPS:
Louisville - http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp..._t416&sid=t416
Bats may have lost another starting pitcher.Pensacola - http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp...ecap&sid=t4124Bats starting pitcher Armando Galarraga, who also faced Columbus last week at Slugger Field, left the game in the fourth inning with an apparent arm injury, and the contest went south from there for Louisville.
In the If-Only Department:Bakersfield - http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp...recap&sid=t423Pensacola also had a runner thrown out at the plate to end the third inning as David Vidal was caught trying to score from second on an infield single from Ryan LaMarre.
Here is a little tidbit from the Bakersfield recap:Contreras, the only current member of the Blaze rotation with a sub-10.00 ERA.
Last edited by texasdave; 04-16-2013 at 07:52 AM.
I was scrolling through this, saw the comments about bunting with two strikes and was about to post about Mantle -- you beat me to it. Agree with everything you say here.
Bottom line, with players as fast as Hamilton and Mantle, putting the ball in play on the ground is much, much better than a strikeout.
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