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« on: October 26, 2014, 09:21:10 PM »
Thoughts so far:
1) Outfielders are playing for the deep ball. Giants swing level, for the most part, so almost every one of their hits have been grounders or bloop drops in front of the OF's. With the Royals speed, pull them in closer.
2) When was the last time the Royals attempted a stolen base? Going against their strength.
3) When was the last time they used the bunt to advance a base runner? Or, even to get a runner on, as the Giants play back. Again, going against their strength.
4) Very, very rarely do they shift to the left handed batter. It has come back to bite them time and time again.
5) They used Dyson, a very weak left handed hitter, as a starter, taking Cain out of his great center fielding ability.
6) They rarely swing at the first pitch, even though the Giants predominately use a fast ball down the middle to get ahead in the count.
7) They haven't pinch hit.
8) Not running aggressively. That's what has been scoring the runs for the Giants.
For a team built to play small-ball, they are being coached in these SF games to be a long ball hitting team.