Live Game Lessons: Dictating the Game with Speed, Precision, and a Little Grit - Giants vs. Diamondbacks (5/25/26)

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With my teams and players I often talk about "being hard to play against." What do you do that makes an opponent annoyed to play against you? Running hard all the time is a great example, but there is way more to it than that. How do control the strike zone, how do you fight off pitches, how does your team run an offense that keeps the defense on its heels?

After taking 2 out of 3 from the White Sox over the weekend, the Giants were defeated by the Diamondbacks 6-2 and after yesterday have lost 6 straight to Arizona. Below are a few game notes as to how the Diamondbacks have dictated games against the Giants.

Special Shoutout - Tommy Troy Debuts

The main reason for actually attending the game Monday was to see Tommy Troy play in his 2nd MLB game after making his debut on Sunday. Tommy is a player both Sean and I coached as part of the 2020 grad class at CCB. He was part of a loaded group that has now seen 3 players reach the big leagues: Luke Keaschall, Petey Halpin, and now Tommy. It was great to see him play and we're obviously super excited for him!

Speeding Up Your Opponent

Obviously, Tommy has always been a good player. He was a Team USA player in high school, a 1st round pick out of Stanford, and now a big leaguer at just 24 years old. One thing about his game that we always loved was how aggressively he ran the bases. To the point that we needed to tell him to tone it down a bit and understand situations a little better. He was aggressive in looking for extra bases, but he also ran the bases HARD. It was plays like this that made him stand out when he didn't smoke a ball up the middle:

This is a routine groundball to shortstop. You see Adames field it and make a little glove tap before he realizes "oh, crap this guy is actually running down the line", before air mailing it into the dugout allowing Tommy to advance to 2nd. When your coach is telling you to work hard, it's not for your health. It's because it puts pressure on the defense by speeding up the play. What did this lead to?

Well when you let the 9-hitter get on base for free, it doesn't usually lead to good things. The Diamondbacks top of the order came up and put up 3 runs to get them the lead right back that they ultimately didn't relinquish. It's hard to pin a loss on one error, but timing of a mistake always matters. The error was forced by a player working hard running down the line and it's not at all a surprise to me that Tommy was that guy.

Putting Runners in Motion

There are certain counts that are traditional running counts in baseball. 3-2 is one of them. This is because this is an "action pitch." There has to be a result on the play. Hopefully the ball is put in play and with the defense moving around to cover the "steal" there are more holes to hit the ball through. If the ball is hit on the ground it also prevents a double play. The only bad things that can happen on 3-2 when you run, is your hitter strikes out and it becomes a "strike him out, throw him out" double play or your player lines out into a double play (very unlikely).

In the very 1st inning of the game, the Giants found themselves in this scenario. Adames on 1st, Casey Schmitt in the box, and a 3-2 count. Adames did not run and Schmitt fouled a fastball straight back on this swing:

Schmitt does have his fair share of strikeouts, but it's less than one a game at this point. His strikeouts have traditionally been on chasing sliders off the plate. After fouling the fastball straight back Schmitt showed he was right on it. So now we know our hitter is on the fastball and will probably put it in play if he gets another one. If he gets a 3-2 slider, maybe he swings and misses, but our runner will probably safely steal the base, because Kelly is slower to the plate and a slider will be a lot harder to throw the runner out on. This was the result:

Schmitt gets a fastball, Adames is again not running, and you see this easy 5-4-3 double play that would have been prevented by putting the runner in motion.

It should've looked like this play:

It's not the same count (0-2, which I generally don't advise running on without a pitcher tendency scouting report), but you see the D'backs get the runner moving. Arenado hits a groundball that would be a double play, but Chapman's only play is to get the out at 1st and the inning continues. And you already know what's going to happen next...

Adrian Del Castillo comes up, gets into a hitter's count, and lines a ball up the middle to give the Diamondbacks another run.

People ask me what's wrong with the Giants. There's a lot, but this is a great example of how other teams are dictating how the game is being played. The Giants chose not to run in a situation that warranted it and an inning ended. The Diamondbacks put pressure on the Giants by running and it got them an extra run. Runs are precious in the big leagues and the Giants need to become a more complete offense vs. waiting around for guys to "just hit."

Fighting off Pitches

This is going to be the most boring "highlight" you ever see. Nolan Arenado could end up being a Hall of Famer when it's all said and done. He had some MVP caliber seasons in Colorado and has always been regarded as a Platinum glove type defender over at 3rd base. Watch this perennial All-Star on this 0-2 swing:

There is no data that will tell you this was a good swing. But with 2 strikes, you've got to find a way to grind and get yourself a hitable pitch. This is hitting! It's boring, but it shows you that he's in there to compete. We need to show more of this kind of stuff to young players. There is value in fighting a pitch off that is 2 inches off the plate to get to the next one. This is the same at bat as the video above that ends up leading to the base hit to give the D'backs their 4th run and is an awesome example of "being hard to play against." Not every swing is a homer like Instagram would allow you to believe!

Summary

I've always thought that 6-2 is a tough score to lose by. It means you didn't really do anything well. You didn't prevent runs well enough or score enough. It's easy to see that the Diamondbacks are miles ahead of the Giants right now because of the way they play the game on their terms.

Tommy is going to fit right in with Arizona. He's athletic and versatile. They have him in the outfield right now, but he played infield through college. The D'Backs like to run the bases and with guys like him and Corbin Carroll, it makes sense that they like to force the issue in these situations discussed above. At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself if you are hard to play against and what makes you that? If you're relying solely on your talent, you aren't tapping into your full potential.