The Art of the Outfield Assist

A bit of advice for Carolina League base runners: think twice before trying to take an extra base on Winston-Salem’s outfielders.

This season, the Dash’s outfield has done a phenomenal job gunning down runners on the basepaths. Hunter Jones and Mason Robbins are tied for the league lead with six outfield assists (along with Myrtle Beach’s Jeffrey Baez), while Louie Lechich, who has played 29 games in right field, has three assists of his own.

Among all the stats baseball has to offer nowadays, the outfield assist remains one of the most underappreciated. Sabermetric stats have never given much weight to the play, and rarely do baseball fanatics know who leads the MLB in the category. Still, a strong throw can change the course of a baseball game.

Hunter Jones is currently tied for the Carolina League lead in outfield assists (Jody Stewart/W-S Dash).

Take Winston-Salem’s contest against Salem on May 23 at LewisGale Field. With the Dash up 4–3 in the eighth against the best team in the Carolina League, an outfield assist may have saved the game.

With two outs, Salem left fielder Mike Meyers stroked a lined shot off the left field wall. What could have been the start of a two-out rally ended up being the third out of the inning. Robbins played the ball cleanly off the wall and fired a bullet to second baseman Toby Thomas, who applied a tag on Meyers to end the threat. Winston-Salem won the game 5–3.

Through no fault of the outfielders, the assist remains one of the rare occurrences in all of baseball. Everything has to line up perfectly: runners on base, where the ball is hit, etc. When the chance comes to throw someone out, though, outfielders have to be prepared.

Jones, who is now in his sixth professional season and third in the White Sox organization, knows this well. “As soon as I get to the field, one of the first things I do is just make sure my shoulder and arm are nice and strong before I do anything,” says the 24-year-old.

Lechich, meanwhile, says the first thing he does when gets on the field is take note of his surroundings.

“Obviously, going to new ballparks, that’s kind of the biggest thing, knowing the dimensions and knowing the walls. I’d say that’s the trickiest, just positioning-wise where you are going to play.”

Learning the right mechanics remains the most essential part of throwing runners out. Lechich cited Brad Marcelino, his assistant coach at the University of San Diego, as the one who first taught him the basics.

“The main thing is closing the distance to the ball, if it’s on the ground, as quick as you can. Because a lot of times that’ll influence the base coach to send a guy,” said Lechich. “But if you can cut the distance and have a good consistent footwork, it’ll help you a lot to get in good position to throw the ball.”

The Dash, along with the other White Sox affiliates, have had the benefit this season of working with Outfield Coordinator and former MLB All-Star Aaron Rowand. An integral part of the White Sox 2005 World Series team (he also won a ring with the Giants in 2010), the former Gold Glove winner knows how tough an outfield assist is to convert.

2005 World Series champion and current White Sox minor league outfielder coordinator Aaron Rowand had praise for Winston-Salem’s trio of outfielders (Daily Herald).

“Some guys run through the ball and get rid of it quickly, but they don’t get much on the throw,” said Rowand, who had 62 assists in his big league career. “Then again, there are some guys who try to take four steps and then unleash the ball and try to throw a rocket somewhere. So that doesn’t work either because you are not getting rid of the ball.

“There’s a happy medium where you catch the ball, crow hop and get rid of the ball in good time and be able to make a strong, accurate throw.”

Rowand has worked with Lechich, Jones and Robbins since Spring Training and has high praise for the trio.

“They’ve done an outstanding job, and they all have good arms,” said the former 11-year MLB veteran. “They tend to take their defense seriously. It’s not just another thing they do before they go hit. I think that shows in their performance, and they work extremely hard and are very good outfielders.”

MLB history is littered with iconic throws. Who can forget the throw that introduced Ichiro to the baseball world? Or this one from Vladimir Guerrero?

What makes the assist so special is that when it’s converted, it’s a thing of beauty.

When asked to relay his most memorable throw, Lechich recalled a play during his college days at the University of San Diego.

In his junior year, the Toreros made it all the way to the NCAA Regional Final. The team faced off against UCLA and in the fifth inning, with runners on second and third, a ball was smashed right-center field gap. Lechich, who was playing in center, tracked it down and then subsequently gunned down the runner heading to third base.

“It was a pretty long throw,” said the former Torero about that play. “I had previously had a tough at-bat, so I had a little extra adrenaline in me. I threw it all the way in the air and the third baseman (current Chicago Cub and the 2015 NL Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant) did a good job of deking the runner.”

Of course, an outfield assist cannot be completed without an infielder. In some cases, their role plays the biggest difference in if a runner is out or safe. Their movements can catch runners off guard, as Jones has found out several times this season working with Dash third baseman Gerson Montilla and shortstop Cleuluis Rondon.

Mason Robbins, Hunter Jones and Louie Lechich have been mainstays in the Dash outfield this season (Jody Stewart/W-S Dash).

“It helps a lot is when you have Montilla and Rondon, who will be nonchalant,” said Jones. “They’ll be like, ‘Oh, nothing’s happening’, but at the last second tag guys quickly.”

As the Dash round out the May slate, they know that their outfield defense alone won’t bring them victories. Currently, the team sits in last place in the Southern Division, at 17–29.

Still, the Winston-Salem’s outfield will continue to enjoy making life tough on the opponent.

“It’s always a nice little boost because somebody is challenging you,” said Lechich. “They’re basically saying, ‘Hey, you can’t throw us out.’ And when you throw someone out, you say, ‘Yeah, you shouldn’t have done that’”.

-Joe