Quote Originally Posted by 50PoundHead View Post
I thought the same thing. Puig took the ball up the middle a couple of times when Simmons was playing him to pull.

Game of inches. Gattis and Upton made great efforts on A.J. Ellis' doubles. I don't know if any RF gets Ellis' ball to right, but someone more experienced in LF probably gets the ball that handcuffed Gattis. Can't fault the effort though. Better 2B makes the play on Crawford's hard-hit ball. Medlen made a bad pitch to Gonzalez and paid. Other than that, it wasn't like they were roping it off him.

Playoff baseball is different. Sure, it's a crapshoot, but guys adjust. During the regular season, Puig probably goes up there hacking. Last night, he just tries to drive it up the middle.
Maybe it's my rose colored glasses, but if Justin gets close to a ball, I presume Jason makes the play. Justin isn't a slouch in the speed department, but Jason reads the ball better off the bat and takes better routes to the ball.

More than a lot of things what this team needs before next year is Justin to spend some time in LF so he can learn the different angles properly. He once was a good (or at least average) defensive RF obviously the skills have slipped (he used to be faster) he should be at worst an average defensive LF, personally if he puts the work in to learn the angle tricks of LF he should be a solid defender out there. Hopefully Fredi can talk him into learning how to play LF better and get someone in there like Langerhans or someone who was a really great defensive LF who can teach him the finer points he needs still.