The end of Herrera’s long streak
On Monday morning I heard from a friend who wanted to know why Odubel Herrera’s 45-game onbase streak had officially ended. After all, he was the runner on second base when the game ended. If that’s not on base, what is?
I explained to my friend that baseball sometimes is like politics. Being on base doesn’t always mean being on base. Herrera’s streak had, indeed, ended.
For a player to be credited with a 45-game on-base streak he must have achieved a hit, a walk or been hit by a pitch (any of those three) at least once during each of 45 consecutive games in which he had at least one plate appearance. There are other ways to get on base — notably an error, a fielder’s choice or, in this case, a dropped third strike — but they don’t count as on-base even though the player is, in fact, on base.
Like most of the Phillies, Herrera was dominated Sunday by Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty who held him hitless his first three at bats. He had one last chance in the ninth inning against reliever Jordan Hicks, who struck him out. The strike out would have ended the game were it not for the fact that the ball bounced past catcher Francisco Pena and Herrera reached
first on the wild pitch. The next batter then walked before a ground ball ended the game — and Herrera’s remarkable streak.
My friend replied that the rule sounded pretty dumb to him. Why, he asked, should a player receive credit for simply standing in front of a pitched ball but get no credit for hustling to first base as Herrera did on Sunday?
Good question. The same question could be asked about the player who hustles to first on a force out and avoids the double play. The same question could be asked about the player whose hustle turns a momentary bobble by an infielder into an error. A player who can reach base — no matter how he does it — is an asset to his team.
Baseball is the most statistical-laden of all sports, but maybe there’s room for one more stat. How about logging each player’s Reached Base Percentage? Maybe there should even be a Reached Base streak as well. If so, Herrera would still be going strong.
In 1996 the Harrisburg Senators went to Trenton with a 21-year-old sensation named Vladimir Guerrero. Not only did he have a lightning-quick bat, with power, but he could throw the ball to the plate from the deepest parts of right field. I remember asking one scout if he regarded Guerrero as the best prospect in the Eastern League. The scout could have called me Captain Obvious, but he didn’t.
He merely replied, “I don’t have any idea who’s second.”
Guerrero went on to a magnificent major league career and later this summer will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, an honor he richly deserves. Still, there’s reason to wonder if he’s even the best player in his own family.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats feature a 19-yearold third baseman named Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. As of Wednesday his batting average was .423 and he had driven in 45 runs in 40 games. Even his dad never put up numbers that were that good.
This time I won’t even pose the question. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. is clearly the best prospect in the Eastern League. It doesn’t matter who’s second.
The Mariners’ Robinson Cano evidently flunked a test during the offseason — not because performance enhancing drugs were found in his system but because he had taken a diuretic which is banned because it could be used to mask the presence of PEDs. The results of the test were not released while Cano appealed the suspension.
Then, on May 13, Cano broke a bone in his hand when he was hit by a pitch and treatment of the injury required surgery. Cano was told he would be out at least 60 days.
Presto. He dropped the appeal and began serving his 80-game suspension. It doesn’t seem to matter to anybody that he’s serving the majority of the suspension while he’s on the disabled list.
A week later Carlos Gomez of the Rays complained that he’s been tested “five or seven” times this year while at least one teammate hasn’t been tested at all. He wonders how this could happen if the testing is truly random.
Indeed. That’s something to ponder.
A FEW STATISTICS (Wednesday’s not
included): Mookie Betts of the Red Sox has 16 homers in his first 44 games. Last season Giancarlo Stanton didn’t reach 16 until Game 59. The Yankees have a team slugging percentage of .469 and an on base percentage of .341. Both figures are the best in the majors…Garrett Richards of the Angels has thrown 11 wild pitches. No other major leaguer has thrown more than six…Marlins rookie Brian Anderson has played in each of his team’s 48 games. No rookie has appeared in every one of his team’s games since Delmon Young of the Rays did it in 2007…The Braves, Rockies, Astros and Brewers all lead their respective divisions. All have better records on the road than at home… The Rangers have 45 errors, which is nine more than any other team…White Sox batters have drwn 128 walks. Their pitchers have surrendered 202…Javier Baez of the Cubs leads the majors in triples with five. He is also among the home run leaders with 11…Six starting pitchers have ERAs below 2.00 and three of them (Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton pitch for the Astros. Verlander and Cole were acquired in recent trades and Morton was signed as a free agent before the 2016 season…The Pirates are 10-2 against American League clubs.