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Rays Don't Plan To Be Timid On The Base Paths

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By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 27, 2008

Updated: 03/27/2008 12:56 am

FORT MYERS - Since arriving as Tampa Bay's manager, Joe Maddon has been trying to pound home the impact base running - good and bad - can have on a game.

This spring, for the first time, he's seeing the Rays make real progress in that often-overlooked area, with one player serving as the standard bearer. Any time Maddon wants to make a point, he can hold up Jason Bartlett as an example.

Maddon on Wednesday called the Rays' shortstop "probably the best base runner I've seen since Paul Molitor."

He said Bartlett is "just a pure base runner, making great decisions, great reads, knowing what to do. He has been a big influence on our base-running already - I love watching him when he gets out there. He does all the little things right. He runs the bases like he was hitting, he pays that much attention to it."

That hasn't always been the case, according to Bartlett. Though he said running the bases was something he enjoyed, it wasn't until he started playing for the Twins that he made it a priority.

"I take pride in that, and I worked hard at it when I was with the Twins and I'm going to continue to do that," he said.

Finding a true measure of base-running ability can be difficult. There's a lot more to it than stolen bases, but you can't turn to traditional statistics to determine who does the best job going from first to third on a single or advancing on pitches in the dirt.

Baseball Prospectus uses a metric called Equivalent Runs to try to do that, and its charts put Bartlett among the best in the majors at the craft last season - 13th, to be exact. BP's numbers ranked Bartlett sixth among big-league players in Equivalent Hit Advancement Runs, which is defined as moving up from first or second on singles and advancing from first on doubles.

Taking the extra base at every opportunity has been a tenet of Rays camp this spring, whether through stealing a base, taking a chance going from first to third or reacting aggressively to pitches in the dirt. Maddon has made it a point to discuss base running every day in his morning meeting with the team, and he has encouraged them to take chances in games.

The Rays are second among American League teams this spring with 32 stolen bases (the Twins are first with 34) and they have been caught stealing seven times. Beyond that, Maddon has singled out Dioner Navarro and Jonny Gomes - two guys who aren't terribly fast but know what they're doing on the bases - for forcing the issue with their legs.

Navarro and Gomes were involved in base-running plays that kept Tuesday's 10-run fifth-inning outburst against the Blue Jays rolling. Early in the inning, Navarro took a good secondary lead off second base with a runner behind him and was able to slide safely into third ahead of Roy Halladay's throw on an Elliot Johnson sacrifice bunt.

Later, Gomes singled and rounded first hard, then kept going for second when Toronto center fielder Buck Coats' throw home sailed well over the cutoff man. Blue Jays catcher Rod Barajas threw back toward second to try to get Gomes, but his delivery bounced into center field to allow Eric Hinske to score from third base.

It won't always work that well for the Rays, but they're coming around to a point where they would rather take their chances on the move than stay put.

"You're going to get that extra base, you're going to get that extra run, it's going to win a ballgame," Bartlett said. "That's the little things we've got to do here to win a game."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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