'It's been huge for us': Cincinnati Reds making big strides on basepaths
Before Matt McLain made his major league debut at Coors Field on Monday, Cincinnati Reds Manager David Bell predicted McLain’s baserunning instincts would fit in well with the current roster.
McLain’s first career hit was a hustle double, taking an extra base on a line drive to center field. One batter later, McLain scored from second base on a single into shallow left field, beating a throw to the plate.
“I tell J.R. (House) all the time, he’s the best third-base coach in the league because all he does is send guys home,” said Reds first-base/baserunning coach Collin Cowgill. “I think what’s really been fun to watch and fun to hear, everybody from top to bottom, whoever is in the lineup, they are paying attention to running the bases.”
The Reds have the fourth-fewest home runs in the league (34), including an MLB-low 13 homers in away games, but they’re 18th in runs per game (4.37).
Baserunning, to this point, has been a key ingredient to their offense. The Reds rate as the seventh-best baserunning team in the majors, according to FanGraphs’ baserunning metric. The Reds haven’t rated above 28th in the league in Fangraphs’ baserunning metric since 2018, notably their last season with Billy Hamilton as a regular in the lineup.
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The Reds have been below average in stealing bases this season (31 swipes in 44 attempts), but where they excel is taking an extra base on singles and doubles. They’ve singled with a runner on second base 48 times this year, according to Baseball-Reference’s figures, and it’s resulted in a league-high 40 runs.
“When you take the extra bags, running in guys faces, it just gives everyone confidence,” Jonathan India said. “The hitter, now you have a guy in scoring position for me. Stealing, that’s big, getting runs like that. It shows what type of team we are.”
Said Cowgill: “In spring training, it was a point of emphasis for us. Not so much being so great at it, being the best in the league at it, but making it a part of our identity. It’s starting to pick up a bit. I love the aggression we play with, the fearlessness we play with.”
There is a fine line between aggressive baserunning and running reckless. The Reds lead the league with 19 outs on the basepaths, three more than any team and seven above the league average.
But they’ve been rewarded plenty of times for their aggression. They ran often on San Diego Padres left fielder Juan Soto earlier this month. On the first road trip of the season, Jose Barrero and TJ Friedl beat throws to the plate from Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., who possesses one of the strongest arms in the sport.
“J.R. does such a good job,” Cowgill said. “He just noticed (Acuña) was playing really deep. We have a fast runner on second. The speed of the ball that is hit, all that stuff goes into J.R.’s mind. We know he has a good arm, but in those situations, as long as we get good secondary (leads), aggressive in our jumps and our turns, it makes the job really easy on him to send them. If we do get bang-bang (play), we’re OK. We can live with that.”
India leads the Reds with eight stolen bases in 10 attempts, and Jake Fraley has swiped five bags. The Reds didn’t have a player steal more than eight bases last season and they had the worst success rate in the league.
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“It’s part of my game,” India said. “I steal bags. I can easily get 20 or 30 in a year. I was injured last year with the hamstring and my first year, I had a lot of guys in the lineup. I couldn’t really steal because guys hit me in all the time. This is the year I think I’m going to use it to my advantage. Get on base, steal a bag or two, and see how many bags I can get.”
MLB’s rule changes, notably limiting the number of pickoff attempts for pitchers, has led to an uptick in stolen bases around the league, but the Reds’ personnel is the biggest reason why they’ve been running more often. They know they don’t have the power hitters to outslug teams.
“That’s been a big focal point of ours,” Fraley said. “Not only stealing bases but taking the extra bases. We’ve done a phenomenal job of that, going first to third, second to home. I think it’s going to play a huge part in our game going forward, like it has already. As we continue to work on it and get better, you guys continue to see how we’re able to get those runs in those situations and put guys on third base where it’s a lot easier to hit those guys in. It’s been huge for us.”
Cowgill added: “They are exciting plays. It just catches on.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds relying on baserunning to create offense
