Tiger Geist

I don’t quite understand the pinch running last night, Clete Thomas for Ryan Raburn.  Its unusual to pinch run a faster player for a slightly faster rookie.  Here’s what happened after that:

1. Thomas nearly gets picked off first by the pitcher
2. Thomas nearly gets pick off of first by the catcher
3. Thomas is slow to react on Granderson’s single, so he remains on second
4. Thomas is slow to react to Polanco’s single, gets a bad jump
5. Thomas is waived home for some reason, and is thrown out by a rookie who two hops the throw home.

Leyland pinch-ran for Matt Joyce a few weeks ago with Raburn, since Raburn is slightly faster and because he wouldn’t be as tenative on the base paths.  Sounds like Jimmy over-thought this one.