The “basepath” is a line from the runner to the base, and it isn’t established until a fielder with the ball attempts a play on the runner. If Julio Rodriguez jumps out of the way of the bat into foul territory, there’s no issue - there’s no attempt being made on him. Now let’s say that Julio jumps into foul territory to avoid the bat, and finds that he’s in the middle of a swarm of bees - and he sprints out into left field to avoid them. Until Wells throws the ball to a fielder to try to get him out, Julio is free to run around like a streaker all he wants (though I guess if he starts running towards 2nd, an ump may take issue that he’s making a travesty of the game, and call him out for running the bases backwards).
There’s a play called “Skunk in the Outfield” designed for a runner on 1st to wander into right field when there’s a runner on 3rd - it disrupts the defense, and tries to force them to throw it into the outfield while the other runner scores.
Related, and I may not be remembering correctly, but can’t a batter be called out for taking too wide a turn approaching first base to get a better angle going to second? Or is that perfectly legal? Is that considered making a play on the batter even if the left fielder is chasing the ball into the outfield corner?
Leaving a basepath is only against the rules if done to avoid a tag.
That is quite legal. The runner is not avoiding a tag. You can run over to the first base dugout and high-five a batboy on your way to first if you like.
There may be some confusion because there is some leeway given to the umpires to determine if a runner is outside the basepath to avoid a tag. There’s always going to be edge cases.
The skunk-in-the-outfield bit shouldn’t fool professionals, it’s fairly logical to defend against. In youth baseball umpires have more latitude to enforce travesty-to-the-game.
In April through June Guardians leadoff hitter Steven Kwan was hot as hell, even with a few weeks off for a hamstring injury. He fell off a cliff just before the ASG and just now was starting to sort of recover, but has some back problems so is on the IL for the time being. His June AVG was .374, and his August AVG was .207.
I don’t think it’s that pitchers figured him out so much as he was doing it to himself. He looked terrible at the plate. The guy was definitely way inside his own head.
If he can get his back and his mind right, when he comes off the IL the Guardians will really be primed for playoff play. We’re making do with the guys we have but Kwan was really our spark.
Thankfully, the one bat we got at the trade deadline, Lane Thomas, shook off his new team jitters and is settled in and getting meaningful hits now. Fans were ready to burn him at the stake but now we’re all on the Lane Trane! Choo choo!
I think the Vini Pasquantino (KC) injury kind of delivered us the AL Central. That’s how baseball go.
You may very well be right. KC has not been the same team after Vinnie went down. They looked to be a lock for a WC and a challenger for the Central, but now they are fighting for their playoff lives. Their starting pitching is beginning to falter, their middle relief still sucks, and after Witt and Perez they have no consistent hitting.
They defeated the Twins, who have now dropped into a tie with the Tigers for the third wild card spot. Both of them are two games behind the Royals, who are 3 games behind the Orioles.
Each team has three 3-game series left.
Orioles: vs Tigers, @ Yankees, @ Twins
Royals: vs Giants, @ Nationals, @ Braves
Tigers: @ Orioles, vs Rays, vs White Sox
Twins: @ Red Sox, vs Marlins, vs Orioles
Looked like he was out by a mile, but the 3B appeared to apply the tag high and late, and the ump noticed–95% of the time that will be an automatic out so props to the ump for actually checking to see if the tag was made in time.
When or if Ohtani gets to 50-50, I expect him to dial things down a lot to avoid injury. Of course, given that the Dodgers are nipping hard on the Phillies’ heels, he’ll still do whatever gives his team the best chance of winning, but stats can go out of his mind for the rest of the season.
