INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Watching Indianapolis in the early season, it is clear that they are trying to create an identity of utilizing speed and timely stolen bases.
This is not a coincidence, as the squad has seven players who have stolen multiple bases just three weeks into the campaign.
“With the guys that we have, running the bases and team speed are some of our identities,” Indianapolis manager Miguel Perez said. “We are going to steal bases. We are going to chase for that extra 90 (feet) every time…this is a great opportunity for us to help them make the right decisions when it comes to running the bases. It is coming from the top too that we need to be aggressive on the bases.”
Additionally, not all of these players are known for their speed. Mason Martin stole his second base on Thursday. Cal Mitchell, who possesses a career high of six in a season, already has three.
For Mitchell, a lot of this has to do with the work in Spring Training with Mike Roberts, who the team brought in to work with the team on base stealing strategy.
“We had a guy come in, Mike Roberts,” Mitchell said. “He kind of taught us a new move at first base to get a little bit of a running start. It is helping a lot of guys who would not typically steal bags in certain situations….Guys who have not stolen a lot of bases in previous years are able to now.”
Mitchell specifically pointed to Martin’s second stolen base on Thursday as using tips that Roberts gave the group. In that theft, Martin got a running start before he swiped second base against a left-handed pitcher. Anthony Murphy showed the stolen base as part of his Daily Video Rundown on Thursday.
Daily Video Rundown: Jack Suwinski, Will Matthiessen, Canaan Smith-Njigba
Ji-hwan Bae has already stolen five bags in seven attempts. In fact, the team has only been caught stealing three times in the young season.
Bae also give Roberts a lot of credit for his early season base swiping proficiency.
“We worked with Mike Roberts in Spring Training,” Bae said. “He said that before I start to run, I take of couple of hops. I am trying to do that, and I think that helps.”
Clearly the Pirates put an emphasis on every one of the players in Indianapolis getting into motion. With the early season success, that training work has clearly paid dividends so far.
