Cubs' Maddon says one-handed catches just fine
No doubt old-time Little League coaches and catch-playing dads will cringe at what Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday about the proper way of fielding a baseball.
"It's a one-handed game," Maddon said before the game against the New York Mets. The topic came up as Maddon was talking about how well he believes rookie third baseman Kris Bryant is fielding.
"Everybody, and my dad was the same way and God bless him, 'Two hands,' " Maddon said. "There are times when two hands are necessary in fielding a ball. Most of the time it's one-handed. Two hands a lot of times creates stiffness and jabbing receiving a baseball.
"Two hands, where you should be utilizing it, is catching a flyball and you have to throw it. That's what two hands are really for. But you don't want to see a first baseman ever catch a ball two-handed. You don't ever want to see an outfielder on the run catching a ball two-handed.
"When an infielder is going right or left, you never want to see him catch a ball with two hands. Even right at him, the other hand is just there to protect (from) a bad hop. Otherwise you receive the ball one-handed. Catchers catch the ball one-handed."
Maddon added that there is a way to teach infielders to field the ball with one hand.
"What I like to do there is you have an infielder, you hit him groundballs, and he has a ball in his bare hand," he said. "That forces you to catch the ball one-handed. That way you can move your feet properly and just throw it."
Opposites attract:
Kris Bryant hooked a couple of foul balls against Mets ace Matt Harvey in Wednesday's first inning. Joe Maddon was happy to talk about Bryant's triple to the opposite field in right during Tuesday's game.
"His left-field foul line should be pretty much be left-center, and then he moves everything over from there," Maddon said. "If he's hooking the ball too much, he's probably not going to be happy.
"He's one of those weird dudes who can hit the ball out to the opposite gap in any ballpark. I think you're going to see that this summer.
"When a young hitter hits opposite-field gap well, that really excites me. As a hitting instructor, the easier thing to teach a hitter to do is to pull the ball. The more difficult one would be to hit the oppo-gap hard.
"When a guy comes equipped with those bells and whistles, that's really exciting. And he has it."
This and that:
Catcher Miguel Montero entered Wednesday with a walk in each of his eight previous games. He was the first Cub with a walk in eight consecutive games played since Sammy Sosa in 2002 … Kris Bryant had 20 walks in 24 games, seventh best in the National League. All six players ahead of Bryant had played in at least 30 games.