PHILADELPHIA — There were two outs in the sixth inning Tuesday, the Phillies had a lead, and it was time. First-base coach Paco Figueroa muttered something to Alec Bohm. “Perfect spot,” Bohm said. On the second pitch, Bohm dashed for second base.
He made it safely without a throw. The Phillies had secured their first stolen base in 10 days.
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“Paco told me to go,” Bohm said.
He grinned. Two batters later, Bohm scored from second on a single to right with the fifth and decisive run in an 8-4 win over the Blue Jays.
“People talked about all the base-running mistakes we made early in the season,” Bohm said. “But when the game presents an opportunity to take a base, we’re going to go for it.”
They are, but it’s proven to be more complex than that. Entering the day, only three teams had accumulated fewer steals than the Phillies’ 18 bags. Stolen bases have increased across baseball with rule changes designed to encourage them and, somehow, the Phillies are on pace for 15 fewer steals than a season ago.
Trea Turner is one of the fastest runners in the sport and he’s only attempted to steal a base four times this season. (He’s been successful all four times.) Turner knows how it looks. But, in the two-time stolen base champion’s mind, there is more to it.
“I always think,” Turner said, “like, ‘Man, I could steal this base, but we’re down by two. If anything happens, I look like an idiot, right?’ So that’s kind of how I view it.”
The Phillies were aggressive last season under the old rules — especially after Rob Thomson became manager — and finished fifth in the majors in stolen bases. Thomson has rearranged his lineup to have Bryson Stott and Turner at the top and there is an element of speed to that configuration.
But the Phillies rely on different factors — game situation, a pitcher’s time to the plate, and a catcher’s arm — when deciding whether to flash a green light to a runner. And Thomson hasn’t wanted to deviate from that. Not yet, at least.
“There are times throughout a year where I think you have to create runs,” Thomson said. “You try to create runs by running, by hitting-and-running, by safety squeezes. Doing little things to create some runs because you’re just not getting home runs.”
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Is the downtick this year based on changes in personnel or philosophy?
“It’s not philosophy because I do typically like to run,” Thomson said. “I think we’re pretty successful at it when we do run. But picking the right time is important too. … When we flag guys that we can run on, we go.”
It’s been interesting to see teams adopt different strategies in reaction to the new rules. Some clubs have run with recklessness and taken the bad with the good. Teams averaged 25 stolen bases entering Tuesday’s games.
“Wait until more in the middle of the season to see what happens with all that,” Figueroa said. “It’s always a risk or reward. I’ve been doing this for a long time, looking at it. We’re going to take risks when we need to. And, if not, we’re going to try to be the best base-running team other than just stolen bases.”
The Phillies were not that at the beginning of the season. They made too many outs on the bases. There were numerous conversations between coaches and players last month about the mistakes. The base running has been cleaner since, but maybe some of the aggressiveness has been toned down.
Some of the stolen-base conundrum, Turner said, is based on confidence. The Phillies tried twice to steal in a game over the weekend against Boston but catcher Connor Wong threw out both runners.
“We took our chances and we didn’t really succeed,” Turner said. “Do we want to keep going? So I think it’s a little bit of an identity thing. A little bit of rhythm. A little bit of, ‘What do we want to be? What are we OK with?’”
In Figueroa’s eyes, there are different standards for specific runners.
“We need guys to get opportunities,” Figueroa said. “If you’re talking about Trea, he’s an outlier. So people know that when he’s on base, every pitcher’s a 1.1 (seconds) or 1.2 to the plate. He’s going to have opportunities where he’s going to have to risk it. So I think his scenario is going to be a little different than anybody else.”
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It’s not as if Turner’s four steals through 35 games were a stark departure from the past. He had six steals last season in the first 35 games and seven the year before. He averaged 12 steals a season at the 35-game mark earlier in his career.
In spring training, Turner pushed back against the narrative that he could steal as many bases as he wanted with the limits on pick-offs and bigger bases. He’d prefer to play in 160 games, and the potential wear-and-tear on his body from attempting 70-something stolen bases does not offset lost at-bats.
He hasn’t been on base at his accustomed rate this season. That said, he recognizes that he could be more active on the bases.
“I think we can do a better job a little bit on our own,” Turner said. “Early on, every pitcher was like 1.2 to the plate with some decent pick-off moves. And it was tough early on. Lately, when we’ve gotten some situations where we probably could steal, we’re just behind. So I look at the game script a lot. It’s easier to steal bases and it’s easy to be aggressive when you’re up three runs. You can just say screw it.”
Two innings after Bohm’s consequential stolen base Tuesday night, Stott made a break for second base in a four-run game. He stole the bag, putting two runners in scoring position for Turner and Bryce Harper. They both struck out. But the intention was good. It put pressure on the opponent.
Maybe the Phillies will push it more.
“As a group, I think we take pride in stealing bases,” Figueroa said. “We take pride in running the bases correctly. So I don’t think any of that has changed ”
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(Top photo of Bryson Stott and Luis Arraez: Kyle Ross / USA Today)
