October 8, 2012

Tater Trot Tracker

Wild Card Weekend Trot Times

by Larry Granillo

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Wild Card Weekend was wild in a lot of ways (whoever thought the infield fly rule would ever actually be debated?!), but it was seriously lacking in one regard: home runs. In the eight games played this weekend, a total of nine home runs were hit. That's not exactly lighting the world on fire.

Not that we needed them. This first weekend of the 2012 playoffs were more than exciting, tater trots or not. Still - let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Weekend: Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds - 21.94 seconds [video]
Phillips' two-run home run early in Saturday's game gave the Reds a lead they would never relinquish and helped kickstart a great game for the Cincinnati second baseman, including a couple more hits and some sparkling defense.

Matt Holliday, who also kickstarted a key victory with an early home run (this one in the win-or-go-home Wild Card game), also has a good case for the first Home Run of the Day award for the postseason.

Slowest Trot: Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals - 23.86 seconds [video]
Were players trotting faster this weekend because they were excited to be in the postseason, or is it just a small sample size issue? Holliday's 23-second trot was hardly memorable for anything, let alone its lack of speed, but it was more than a second slower than the next slowest trot of the weekend.

Quickest Trot: Jay Bruce, Cincinnati Reds - 18.32 seconds [video]
On the other hand, there was a nice percentage of quick trots from the weekend. This Sunday trot from Jay Bruce took the cake, but Josh Reddick (18.44 seconds) and Ryan Ludwick (18.46 seconds) were right behind him. Of course, with Bruce and Ludwick at the top of the board here, we might just be seeing the Cincinnati Reds Effect. Reds players tend to speed around the bases (Brandon Phillips is usually a notable exception to this; not on Saturday, though).

All of This Weekend's Trots

Matt Holliday....23.86
David Ross.......22.84
Alex Avila.......22.77
Russell Martin...22.16
Brandon Phillips.21.94
Buster Posey.....21.63
Coco Crisp.......19.11
Ryan Ludwick.....18.46
Josh Reddick.....18.44
Jay Bruce........18.32

Wednesday's (Oct. 3) Trots

Juan Rivera..........26.09  Robinson Cano #1.....22.05
Paul Konerko.........25.29  Evan Longoria #3.....22.04
Scott Hairston.......24.68  Evan Longoria #1.....21.97
Dan Johnson #2.......24.4   Ryan Zimmerman.......21.59
Dan Johnson #3.......24.29  Casper Wells.........21.54
Bryan LaHair.........24.04  Chris Denorfia.......21.53
Justin Maxwell.......23.99  Dayan Viciedo........21.35
Cameron Maybin.......23.72* Michael Morse........21
Dan Johnson #1.......23.54  Curtis Granderson #1.20.75
Robinson Cano #2.....23.16  Ike Davis............19.94
Ryan Roberts.........22.95  Derek Norris.........19.78
Evan Longoria #2.....22.76  AJ Pollock...........19.7
Alex Castellanos.....22.76  Andres Torres........18.24
Tyler Moore..........22.4   Curtis Granderson #2.17.6

Click here for the ongoing 2012 Tater Trot Tracker Leaderboard. You can also follow @TaterTrotTrkr on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute trot times.