Talking baseball: five things that will increase your baseball IQ when watching Royals

Baseball rewards those who pay attention and really rewards those who know what to pay attention to. Here are five things that the guys who play the game have suggested I look for, and now you can look for them, too.

Three pickoff attempts

If the pitcher tries three consecutive pickoff attempts, pay attention to what happens when he finally gets around to delivering a pitch to the plate.

On July 6, Royals pitcher Glenn Sparkman had Nationals first baseman Matt Adams on first base and catcher Kurt Suzuki at the plate. Despite the fact that Adams hadn’t attempted a stolen base since 2016, Sparkman tried three pickoffs in a row and when he finally threw a pitch to Suzuki it was a fastball down the middle; the Nationals catcher hit a two-run home run.

When a pitcher gets overly concerned about a base runner, he can disrupt his own rhythm with multiple pickoff attempts ... and odds are the next pitch won’t be a good one.

Fake breaks

When a runner on first base breaks for second, then stops, it might not be because he got a bad jump and changed his mind; he might have been using a fake break to reveal coverage.

After a fake break, look at second base to see who covered the bag.

If nobody covered, the defense was going to let the runner take second base, which is more likely with a runner on third. If one of the middle infielders covered second base, now the hitter knows which side of the infield will be open if the runner takes off.

Next, look at the catcher to see if he comes out in front of the plate and gives a new set of signs. If he does the offense isn’t sure if the coverage stayed the same; if he doesn’t the offense has just gained valuable information.

Back in August of 2017, Melky Cabrera — then playing for the Royals — stole the only base he would steal all year when a fake break revealed the St. Louis Cardinals were not going to throw to second base with Eric Hosmer standing on third.

If they’re gonna give it to you, take it.

Base running after a delay

After a rain delay the outfield grass is wet and any ball that bounces at least twice will be slick and difficult to handle. That means base runners can be more aggressive and might be able to take an extra 90 feet.

Bonus points for paying attention to which direction the outfielder was traveling when he fielded the ball: if the outfielder is going away from the base the runner wants to take, the runner might keep going. If the outfielder is going toward that base, the runner will probably stay put.

Going toward the base means a strong throw; going away means a weak one.

A pitcher getting a hit

Everybody in the dugout celebrates when a pitcher gets a hit, but then the pitcher has to run the bases. That means he doesn’t get his normal amount of recovery time between innings.

On Tuesday night, the Royals played the Braves and Atlanta pitcher Dallas Keuchel led off the bottom of the fifth with a double and spent the entire half inning on base, not resting in the dugout.

In the top of the sixth, Alex Gordon homered and Hunter Dozier walked.

The guys who play baseball for a living would suggest what happened in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth just might be related.

Pitching inside

In that same game, Lucas Duda was pinch-hitting against Anthony Swarzak in the eighth inning with the game tied 2-2. Swarzak decided to throw a Duda an inside pitch ... which turned out to be a really bad idea.

Duda homered and gave the Royals a lead they’d never give back.

In the later innings of a one-run game — and this really applies in extra innings — hitters are trying to hit home runs; they want to go home, too. So it’s hard to sneak a pitch past hitters looking for something on the inner half of the plate.

A pitch Swarzak might have gotten away with in the third inning, got hammered in the eighth.

Next time you watch a game, look for these five things: they’ll increase your baseball IQ and you just might win a bet while you’re at it.