CLEVELAND – The aggressive base running that allowed Rajai Davis to score the winning run Saturday was the product of both instinct and preparation.
When Davis played alongside Toronto Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ in 2012 and 2013 he became familiar with how the left-hander held on runners. Pitchers change, though, so in the days leading up to the ALCS, Davis watched video of his former teammate. Then he sought out the insights of first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. and outfielder Coco Crisp.
By the time Davis reached first base on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the third inning Saturday, he thought had something on Happ: he rarely threw to first base on the first pitch. With that observation Davis decided to run right away.
“I was going on what I saw and I trusted what I saw,” Davis said. “I was extra-aggressive.”
Happ tried to deliver his pitch as quickly as possible, since he expected Davis to break. Even so Davis beat Russell Martin’s throw to second base by a considerable margin.
“The guy is incredibly quick,” Happ said. “He’s dynamic for sure.”
Realistically, Davis stole the base off Happ. Opposing runners attempted just eight stolen bases against Happ this year, and they were successful seven times.
“It’s tough if your pitchers don’t give you a chance to throw guys out,” Davis said. “Otherwise, if you’re stealing off the pitcher, you get a jump. Nobody’s going to throw anybody out.”
Soon after arriving at second base, Davis advanced to third on a wild pitch then scored the deciding run on a Francisco Lindor single, allowing Cleveland to take a 2-0 lead in the ALCS.
“He can disrupt a game,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said of Davis. “And he does it very well. Not only the stolen bases, the things you can see, but making pitchers sidestep, potentially leaving a pitch up in the zone for one of our better hitters. He’s done that all year and done it really well.”
Even as he approaches his 36th birthday, Davis has as much speed as just about anyone. He stole 43 bases in 49 attempts during the regular season, impressing his teammates along the way.
“He creates chances better than anybody in the game that I’ve seen in a long time,” second baseman Jason Kipnis said. “Not only the stolen bases, but reading the balls in the dirt and putting the pressure on where they throw the ball away. Three reasons why he’s good as a base stealer.”
Before the ALCS began, Cleveland’s players saw Martin’s comments about their running game. Martin, who prevented 15 percent of stolen base attempts in 2016, said he’d welcome aggressive base running from the opposition.
“I throw rockets to second base. I’m pretty quick and I’m pretty accurate and I’m pretty consistent,” Martin said. “It’s what I’m best at in life—catching and throwing. I don’t want to sound overconfident, but it’s always been a good part of my game. For me, it’s a non-issue. It’s not something I’m worried about. They don’t have Usain Bolt on their team.”
Certainly not, but they do have Rajai Davis. On Saturday that was good enough.
“We want to run, too,” Kipnis said. “(Martin’s) got the right mindset. He’s in agreement with us, because we want to keep running too.”
