LOS ANGELES -- If Sunday in Los Angeles had been a postseason elimination game, then the eighth-inning play that scored the lone run and gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a 1-0 win over the Chicago Cubs would have been replayed and analyzed for an entire winter.
Instead, it’s a learning experience for a young team that tends to move its infielders to different positions more than most.
“He made a mistake,” manager Joe Maddon said of third baseman Javier Baez. “I made mistakes when I was his age. He made a mistake today.”
With the bases loaded and two outs, Carl Edwards Jr. got Adrian Gonzalez to hit a ground ball to the shortstop side of third base. It looked like the inning was over, but Baez decided to throw to second for the force out, instead of getting the slow-running Gonzalez at first. The only problem: second baseman Ben Zobrist was playing in shallow right field to defend the lefty Gonzalez. Zobrist was playing deeper than usual, considering the Dodgers first baseman's lack of speed. Zobrist couldn’t get to second in time to get a hard-running Corey Seager while Andrew Toles crossed the plate.
“We just didn’t communicate,” Baez said. “I completely forgot who was running down the line.”
It’s not clear if he meant Seager or Gonzalez, but the bigger issue is the way defenses are set up. With Maddon’s propensity to move players from infield to outfield and back again, communication before a play is essential.
“I feel like the responsibility falls on me, being the veteran,” Zobrist said. “I need to communicate where I’m at.”
With Baez, Kris Bryant and others moving around the diamond, the Cubs are at a slight disadvantage when it comes to infield chemistry. That forces communication to be sharp and timely.
“You assume a guy is going to be there, or you assume you’re going to be closer to the bag than you are,” Zobrist said of the differences in the game. “We have to think on our feet. ... Sometimes we can get a little bit lackadaisical with our communication when we’re in those various positions. We have to stay on that and do better next time.”
If the next time is in the playoffs and the Cubs react better because they went through a bad moment Sunday, they’ll be thrilled it happened, despite the loss. That's the beauty of being 14 games up in the division, with a magic number to clinch at 20.
“Next time, communicate better and get the out,” Baez said.
More important than the play itself are Baez’s at-bats against right-handed pitching. His woeful .284 on-base percentage isn’t much higher than his .263 batting average against right-handers. That is allowing the opposition to pitch to him however they like.
“When I start my swing, I can’t stop it,” Baez said of a ninth-inning swing-and-miss.
Also, Maddon wasn’t thrilled when Baez didn’t run out a popup in the fifth inning that Baez thought was going foul. Those are bigger, big picture concerns than his mental mistake.
Baez's struggles against right-handed pitching give Maddon a dilemma in the playoffs. Pitching and defense win games, but the Cubs have to score in order to win -- see Sunday’s shutout for evidence. If Jason Heyward comes out of his yearlong slump -- he showed more good signs Sunday -- then starting Baez in a playoff game against a righty might be worth it. If Baez starts to hit righties, then Heyward has more value in the field. The problem comes if neither of them hits. Maddon might have to sacrifice defense for offense in that scenario.
But that’s for later. There were more positives than negatives on Sunday, despite a lousy day at the plate and the eighth-inning mistake. Jon Lester reinforced the notion that the Dodgers can’t hit lefty pitching, as he threw six scoreless innings. There's a good chance Lester would be the Game 1 starter against Los Angeles in a playoff series. Carl Edwards Jr. also threw well, despite being on the mound for the Baez gaffe.
“The experience of pitching in those circumstances is only going to make him better,” Maddon said. “Our pitching was fabulous.”
Then there’s Heyward. Since he sat on the bench for four games, he has had a hit in every game he has played in, including one he didn’t start. Now the ball is starting to jump off his bat. After two hits Sunday, he came up with the bases loaded in the sixth inning and hit a 102.6 mph smash right at Gonzalez at first. The out didn’t diminish his day; it only enhanced it.
“I love the way Jason is bouncing back right now,” Maddon said. “There were so many good storylines [today].”
He’s not wrong, and if the Cubs had a little better communication, they might have won the weekend series, which featured an extra-inning win and two one-run losses. As long as that communication comes in October, no one will care what happened Sunday.
“That has to be communicated before the play,” Maddon said. “They’re young players. This kid [Baez] has as much instinct as anyone I’ve ever been around.”