A pitcher, especially a lefty, with a strong pickoff move. Maybe a catcher with a quick release and a cannon, or even a middle infielder with a deft ability to swipe tag.
All of those can easily help teams prevent the running game…but can a first baseman really help?
“Big time. I think it's always an advantage when a lefty is over there at first, just with where the throw is and to be able to tag,” Anthony Rizzo said Monday, when asked how he can help stop a Guardians team that was second in the American League in steals. “We know they're aggressive on the base paths. That's one of their identities and rightfully so; they have a lot of athletic guys.”
Indeed, the Guardians’ 148 steals were fifth in MLB and second to only the Rays on the junior circuit, and they’re facing a catcher in Austin Wells who caught 11 of 54 attempted base-stealers, earning himself a league average mark there despite being in just the 30th percentile in pop time.
Perhaps a little easier with a lefty on the mound in Game 1 in Carlos Rodon, but the others certainly appreciate Rizzo’s veteran presence being back.
“He’s such an accomplished first baseman, a master around the bag,” Gerrit Cole said. “He's certainly got heightened awareness of the strategies to steal a bag and what somebody would be looking at in order to exploit, and he's got a slow enough heartbeat that he can notice things and focus on things that maybe other players are focused on fielding a ground ball or getting off the bag. He's got a little more nuance to his game.”
It remains to be seen how much, if any, Rizzo’s fractured fingers affect him on defense, but when it comes to that part of his game on the diamond, Rizzo is ready.
“It will be up to us and our pitchers to control the run game. We're ready for it. We're prepared,” Rizzo said. “It's not like we don't know what they do. They know exactly what we do. So it will just be a cat-and-mouse game.”