A Run Saved Is Better Than A Run Earned -- The "Big Donkey" Is An Endangered Species For A Reason

David Ortiz

In a current day and age where runs are at a premium, defense has to be taken more seriously. Yes, we all love to see those big flys that only guys like "The Big Donkey" Adam Dunn, "Big Papi" David Ortiz and "The Big Man" Ryan Howard can deliver. However, if you want your team to make the playoffs, there is a good chance you actually don't want one of these boppers on your team. Yes, I said "DON'T."

Adam Dunn

As the saying goes, "A penny saved is a penny earned." Well, the same goes in baseball. Unfortunately when these hitters take the field, the opposite of this phrase comes true oh so many times for their respective teams as they often cost their team more defensively than they can give offensively. Do you want a guy who can hit you some homers? Of course. Do you want guys who can hit homers and not much else? Probably not. Some guys seem as if they were just made to DH. Of course the DH is not an option in the National League and many American League teams seem like to use the DH to give guys "half days off" rather than making it a position dedicated to just one player.

So many power guys would will thrown in left or at first because they are considered the easier of the positions to play and need the least athletic ability. The problem is, while they are less of a liability at these positions, they are still indeed that... A liability.

Ryan Howard

I think most people would agree that the game is as much mental as it is physical. Well, let's tackle the mental aspect of the game through a hypothetical situation. Say you are a Phillies fan and you are two games out of first in September and you have Cole Hamels on the hill. Let's say there are two on and two out and he has a one run lead in the seventh. All the pressure in the world be on him but he is extra focused and he channels all of that energy that is running through his body to make his pitch and a ground ball is bounced down the first base line to Howard who is playing no doubles. Hamels would have to be thinking he is out of the inning and is about to jog back to the dugout as the hero. Instead, in a split second his emotions will hit a complete high and then plummet to a complete low. Hamels looks over and sees the ball eat up his first baseman, he has to run to back up a potential play at the plate, the ball heads down the line, a couple runs are in, a man is now on second and his team is losing. Now instead of shaking his teammates hands in the dugout, he is getting a visit from the pitching coach to settle him down and maybe go over a quick scouting report.

Cole Hamels

As a fan you can feel it too. It is as if there is an impending doom ahead and the next thing you know your pitcher throws a cookie down the middle of the plate and give up a bomb or the fielders become flat footed and they just further compound the issue. It goes from what should have been an uneventful inning to an inning where they are just trying to stop the bleeding. Sounds familiar, right?  

However, we also said the game is half physical. Well, let's continue on this hypothetical journey. Hamels is back on the mound, down a run and has to quickly gather himself again. Even if he gets the out, how many more pitches does it take out if him? Instead of pitching another inning is he just trying to get himself out of the current predicament? We live in an era where at 100 pitches you are almost automatically pulled from the game. If Hamels has to be pulled, how many relievers does it take to get the outs that should have been gotten already? Will that reliever or relievers be able to pitch again tomorrow or did they throw too many

A call to the bullpen

pitches? Did they have to use their set-up man or closer early? What happens if they go into extra innings? Who is your go to guy then? Do they have to make tomorrow's starter come in? It is amazing how one play can cause a series of events that in baseball can become a managers nightmare for the next five games.

Outside of the obvious consequences of a bad play that ends in more pitches pitched, more pitchers used and more runs given up is that so often a team after a deflating play can have the momentum turn on them completely. Momentum may be the biggest asset to a team in a game where you play every day. If you are going well, the game is fun, everyone is loose and things just come naturally. When there is a negative carryover of a few bad plays all of a sudden it can make the pitchers and bullpen become quickly overused, the ball club looks and feels tired, old, frustrated and overall, just flat.

James Loney

Teams can't be have their roster stacked with All-Stars who can do it all and most teams can't or won't let the DH be a "position" like it is for the Red Sox. If they can keep a great bat in their line-up, great for the Red Sox. However, if the day came that the Red Sox had to play Ortiz in the field every day, that is the time the Fenway Faithful would have to say good bye and farewell to their beloved slugger. If you had to choose between James Loney and David Ortiz at first on an every day basis, you will not worry about the extra 15 homers Ortiz can give you because you know what the real consequence of having his bat in the lineup can and likely will end up costing you and your team.