Something about the Cubs running the bases makes teams forget how to play baseball. Five years after Javier Báez broke the Pirates’ brains running to first base, Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson forgot to tag the Cubs’ runner coming home Thursday (CHC 8, CIN 3). He thought it was a force play. Nope. Stephenson had to apply the tag but just didn’t do it.
Setting the scene: Chicago had a 2-0 lead with the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth inning. Dansby Swanson hit a chopper to third base that Ke’Bryan Hayes fielded cleanly and stepped on the bag for the force out. He then threw home for the double play — a good and smart play by Hayes — but Stephenson, thinking it was still a force out, never tagged the runner despite having ample time to do so.
Just so it’s clear, Hayes stepping on third base removed the force out at home. The tag had to be applied at that point. Here’s the play:
The final score was a bit lopsided, though that was a very important moment in the game. It was only 2-0 and getting the double play there would have kept the Reds in it. Instead, it unraveled into a six-run inning for the Cubs. According to basic win probability, the Reds had a 10.8% chance to win after that play. Had they turned the double play, it would have been 21.6%.
Keep in mind that Stephenson is not an inexperienced catcher behind the plate. He is in his sixth full season and has caught close to 450 games in the big leagues. If he’d simply dropped the ball or missed the tag, OK, fine, it happens. That’s baseball. But not applying the tag speaks to inattentiveness, something you can’t have in general — especially at catcher.
I’m going to put my cranky old man hat for a moment: Fundamentals across baseball are so bad these days. Stephenson made a bad and dopey play Thursday, but it’s not just him. Every night, you see a runner blowing through a stop sign, someone not tagging up properly, a defender throwing to the wrong base, a pitcher not covering the bag, etc. It’s widespread.
In a sport where the margins can be so thin, there is real value in just being buttoned up. Knowing what to do defensively and on the bases can swing a game in your favor. Physical mistakes will happen. They’re part of the game. But the mental mistakes are increasingly common and increasingly inexcusable. Stephenson was just the latest example.
