San Francisco Giants’ World Series win can be encouraging for Tampa Bay Rays - MLB Update
Even as Tampa Bay Rays did not make it to the playoffs this year, they have a reason to be satisfied. The strategy followed by San Francisco Giants that led to their victory in the World Series is not different to the one that Rays adopted during the season.
Both of these organisations believe that the importance of pitching and defence is immense. They construct their rosters keeping these two factors in mind.
Giants relied on their quality arms to keep the Detroit Tigers at bay throughout the World Series. While offence played its part, they gained the bulk of the momentum from the impressive shows of their hurlers at the mound.
In the high profile matches, role of the defence proves decisive. Under pressure, making effective plays requires rigorous practice. Above all, it calls for the need to discard the impact of the noise made by the fans from the mind while running in the field.
The Atlanta Braves met an early exit from the playoffs this year because their defence struggled to put up quality plays in the field. Errors they committed in the game against the St. Louis Cardinals cost them the defeat despite the fact their starter threw
incredible innings from the mound.
Tampa Bay’s officials stress on the need to work on defence. They seem conscious about reducing the number of runs allowed and increasing the runs scored, making sure fielders and the hurlers perform the duties to the best of their abilities for achieving
this objective.
Rays’ Andrew Friedman, who is an Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, has stated this view in the following words.
"I would sign up for us scoring 400 runs next year if it meant we allowed 100, and I'd sign up for us allowing 1,000 if I knew we'd score 1,400," Andrew Friedman said. "So it's the relationship of both, and how we can put together the best 25-man roster
we can. Our strengths and weaknesses aren't necessarily a philosophical mind-set as much as it is optimizing the guys that we have and the depth we have and trying to put together the best team."
While Rays did not perform well this year, they can go a long way in giving tough competition to the opposition in the upcoming season.
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