Willson Was Bad, But Not As Much As You Think
In one swing Willson Contreras broke two of Joe Maddon’s catch phrases. Respect 90 and Try Not To Suck. In Willson’s Case he did respect about 135 feet, but it was that first 45 feet that have caused the uproar. When Contreras hit the ball, which fell just short of the wall, he pimped it by walking and watching the ball. After several steps he began a slow trot, then as he realized the ball wasn’t going out, he sprinted and reached second safely.
The bigger issue was not respecting 90. But we have the luxury of hindsight on our side.
I personally don’t mind pumping homers. Ultimately, I think if you don’t like it, don’t allow the home run (or double off the wall in this case). That’s one of the ways the game has changed, and it has been changed by the influx of Latin-born players over the past 30 or so years.
I’ve written on this before. I’ve discussed how the way the game is played in many Latin countries is a game which everything is pimped. Hit a homer, pimp it. Strike someone out, pimp it. Have a bunt hit, pimp it. Second baseman records a routine out, pimp it. Telling a Latin-player to respect the game, just might be telling them to relearn how they approach the game, and I don’t think that’s a great idea.
Now, Contreras not running off the bat, especially with hindsight, just didn’t look good. When you see it, and you see that he was nearly out at second, there isn’t a really good argument that can be made in regards to pimping it being part of how he learned the game in Venezuela. It just looked dumb, inexcusable, and I’d bet the first person to call Willson out was Contreras himself. But, and bare with me here, he was justified in thinking that ball was out.
In defense of Willson Contreras:
He hit that ball at 108.2 mph with a launch angle of 32 degrees. The estimated distance was 416 feet (Which has to be off). 25 balls in the statcast era have been hit at that exit velocity and that launch angle. 24 of them have been home runs.
— FullCountTommy (@FullCountTommy) September 17, 2018
So of all 25 balls hit at that launch angle, with an exit velocity of 108 MPH, Contreras had the only ball that didn’t result in a home run. Of course this doesn’t excuse the errant pimp job, especially in the minds of some of my biggest “get off my lawn” crowd, but it might add some validity as to why he did it.
Hitters know when they get a ball. Like really hit it. If you’ve played the game, you know when you properly strike a ball. Willson is no different.
The play was horrible. It was. There are fans that will never agree with any level of pimping a ball (take notice of my recent bat-flip article). I just don’t think fans should make him out to be as much of a villain as some fans have been.
