So Saturday night, Nate McLouth became the first Nats victim of the transfer rule. I could not find video of the play, but to cue the scene, Braves have runners on first and second with one out when Andrelton Simmons hits a loopy fly ball to right. McLouth senses the runner on second may tag so he positions himself to throw and catches the ball. As he swings his glove back to his cocked throwing hand, the ball slips out and falls to the ground. The runners move up and everyone is ruled safe. The Nats, having already used their challenge, had no recourse, and with Angel Hernandez involved, no real hope.
As
Dave Cameron at Fangraphs wrote, Nate is not the first foiled by the new rule intended to improve the judgment mechanics on double play attempts. He certainly will not be the last, nor will the Nats be the team most grotesquely screwed over by the rule change. Watching the McLouth play a half dozen times, it is understandable how MLB could feel the transfer rule applies fairly to both infield and outfield scenarios. However, let me repaint the picture:
Braves have runners on first and second with one out when Andrelton Simmons hits a loopy fly ball to left. Harper charges and secures the ball in his glove. He takes a step or two towards the infield and sees an opportunity to end the inning. As he begins the motion to transfer the ball to his throwing hands- "OOPS! I dropped it!" Harper quickly regathers and fires a seed into Rendon at third to nail the lead runner. Evan Gattis, struggling from a rough hangover from the evening before, can't figure out why Doug Descenzo is flailing his arms on third base, Rendon flips the ball to second and the rally is wiped out.
The samples collected by Fangraphs show the a slew of the bizarre effects the rule can have, and the umpires are not too keen on change and replay, so we certainly have not seen the end of this.
Posts
