Chris Duncan in Left: Making the Routine Look Like Roulette

Hungary Jack · Post by **Hungary Jack** » April 25 07, 4:53 pm

I am not being too critical, but some of Chris Duncan's early season "circus" catches that have been featured on BBTN and MLB.com were fairly routine balls that a decent outfielder handles with little incident. Duncan certainly looks more comfortable out there, but I would describe his range as "hesitant", which forces him to struggle to reach very reachable balls. He has improved, and is certainly still a work in progress, but he's not "there" yet.

longhornbaseball · Post by **longhornbaseball** » April 25 07, 4:56 pm

That catch he made last night was great.

Hungary Jack · Post by **Hungary Jack** » April 25 07, 5:32 pm

longhornbaseball wrote:That catch he made last night was great.

It was a nice catch. He took too shallow a route to the gap, which made it interesting at the end.

Phyrkrakr · Post by **Phyrkrakr** » April 25 07, 5:41 pm

What about the superman snags in San Fran? Those were good catches, period, even if you're Jim Edmonds.

He does look hesitant at times, but until he drops an easy one at his feet, he's going to continue to get the benefit of the doubt, especially since he's the only regular hitting over .300 right now.

jim · Post by **jim** » April 25 07, 5:43 pm

If he keeps hitting it's something you can easily live with. I do wonder what is up with all of the stutter steps as he's catching the ball. I mean he's right under it, his glove is up, why the happy feet?

Hungary Jack · Post by **Hungary Jack** » April 25 07, 5:59 pm

jim wrote:If he keeps hitting it's something you can easily live with. I do wonder what is up with all of the stutter steps as he's catching the ball. I mean he's right under it, his glove is up, why the happy feet?

Footwork is a huge part of it, and Duncan has improved noticably here. A lot of players have trouble running full speed while not looking directly ahead (ie looking up at a fly ball). What's really bad is the guy who runs with a glove outstretched like a diving rod while tracking a ball that is several seconds from being caught. This seems to paralyze the feet.

Duncan has learned to tuck his glove and run while tracking ball with his eyes (not his arm), which improves his speed and range. He looks much less stiff and more fluid in his approach, but he still takes indirect routes. I think he will overcome this with experience.

TimeForGuinness · Post by **TimeForGuinness** » April 25 07, 6:05 pm

Hey, at least he's catching them.

/building confidence

fulldeck · Post by **fulldeck** » April 25 07, 6:20 pm

I think he has improved quite a bit. It shows he has put a ton of work into his defense. I respect that a lot.

Transmogrified Tiger · Post by **Transmogrified Tiger** » April 25 07, 7:07 pm

On a more general scale, this brings up an important point about how we perceive fielding. The nature of it is so that not being good at it can make it look harder than it is. A lack of speed may require a Duncan, Dunn, or Floyd to have to lay out for a ball that an Edmonds, Hamilton, or Soriano get to with ease. Or Scott Hatteberg's lack of reach for being "only" 6 feet tall may require him to make a much tougher pick on a throw in the dirt than the much taller Lee or Pujols.

greenback44 · Post by **greenback44** » April 25 07, 7:09 pm

Transmogrified Tiger wrote:A lack of speed may require a Duncan, Dunn, or Floyd to have to lay out for a ball that an Edmonds, Hamilton, or Soriano get to with ease.

I know what you're saying here, but I think Duncan has above-average speed for a LF. He's probably faster than Edmonds right now.