Luke Raley is an enormous, sturdy man. The Seattle outfielder stands 6-foot-4, weighs 235 kilos, and spent a lot of his childhood in Ohio felling bushes with a chainsaw. He’s obtained an enormous arm, and he’s boasted a most exit velocity at or above the ninetieth percentile in three of the final 4 seasons. Former teammates have known as him “an enormous ball of muscle” and stated, “He form of performs like a monster.” Simply final evening he launched a moonshot residence run that reached an altitude of 104 ft. And but in some way, if you happen to Google the phrase luke raley feats of power, that is all that comes up:
To start with, sure, Raley is married. He discovered that he obtained traded to Seattle throughout his honeymoon, whereas taking part in pool volleyball. Second, there’s a reasonably good cause that Raley’s power doesn’t headline his search outcomes: He’s greater than only a beef boy. Raley has finesse. The truth is, he’s presently tied with Jacob Younger for the key league lead with 5 bunts for a base hit. Whereas Younger has a 35.7% success charge on his bunts, Raley is the one participant to this point this decade to bunt for no less than 5 hits in a season whereas sustaining a 1.000 batting common on these bunt makes an attempt. Need to guess who’s in second place? That might be 2023 Luke Raley, who went 5-for-6 in his bunt makes an attempt. The massive, sturdy man has an enormous, sturdy bunt recreation.
In the event you return all the way in which to 2002, the primary 12 months we now have data on bunt success charge, solely three gamers have completed that feat over a full season. In 2018, Scott Kingery went 5-for-5. In 2019, Matt Olson did the identical, whereas Brandon Belt went 7-for-7. Raley, placing on his bunting clinic with out the good thing about the infield shift, is on tempo for 12 bunt hits this season, however he’d solely want two to tie the file.
That is extraordinarily enjoyable for a couple of causes, the primary being that Raley merely doesn’t seem like the kind of participant who leads the league in bunt hits. Beneath is a graph that exhibits each participant with no less than 4 bunt hits this season. in addition to I do which gamers are purported to bunt for hits: Scrappy little guys with a chip on their shoulder who make up for his or her lack of energy with a mixture of pace and grit. And sure, these guys are represented within the graph, however Raley is there too, towering above them. It’s not solely that he’s approach taller than they’re. It’s that he’s simply plain greater. Usually talking, listed weights aren’t that informative since they don’t get up to date with a lot regularity. Nevertheless, it’s value consulting them on this case, on condition that Raley outweighs Garrett Hampson, the second participant on the checklist, by greater than 50 kilos:
If Raley and Jose Altuve wished to go on a see-saw collectively — and there’s no cause to imagine that they don’t — Altuve would wish to stuff his pockets with 214 baseballs in an effort to steadiness out the burden differential. If Raley and Steven Kwan wished to go on a see-saw collectively, Kwan may steadiness out the differential by stuffing his pockets with 39% of Jose Altuve.
The second cause Raley may not strike you as a champion bunter is that his run is, nicely, barely hilarious. He kilos the bottom forcefully and kicks his heels up nearly all the way in which to his butt with every step. The impact is a kind of optical phantasm; it seems like he’s winding as much as take a huge stride, solely to alter his thoughts and put his foot down a couple of inches behind the place he picked it up within the first place. Wrote John Trupin, “Luke Raley runs like he isn’t transferring himself quicker, however as an alternative slowing the earth’s rotation with the drive and friction of every step.” Raley additionally puffs his chest out, extends his arms away from his physique for max wind resistance, and retains his elbows extraordinarily lively. He appears to not be pumping his arms a lot as he’s looking for out how far behind him they’re able to extending earlier than one thing in his rotator cuff snaps:
Raley is conscious of all this. He has tried greater than as soon as to change his operating model, however fortunately he hasn’t succeeded. “I imply, I see it,” he instructed reporters. “Belief me. I’ve seen loads of movies of myself taking part in, and I am going, ‘Wow, that appears actually unhealthy.’” However right here’s the factor: It really works. Raley is undeniably quick. His 28.8 ft/sec dash pace places him within the 86th percentile, and it makes him not simply the third-fastest participant on the Mariners, however the third-fastest 29-year-old in baseball. He might not seem like somebody who must be bunting for a success, however the success charge doesn’t lie.
To take a look at Raley’s bunts, you possibly can enterprise over to Baseball Savant’s search web page and examine absolutely the best of the various, many obtainable containers:
There’s one thing delightfully weird in regards to the phrase Is Bunt. Not that it’s alone — there are many nice choices right here. Is Blast undoubtedly has its charms; it appears like one thing a toddler from the Sixties would ask if you happen to tried to elucidate what a Slip ‘N Slide was. Is Final Pitch can be enjoyable, in that it appears like a not-so-vague menace from a pitching coach who doubles as a mob enforcer. However Is Bunt is the very best. It appears like what the play-by-play announcer screams within the backside of the ninth inning after they’re so shocked by a suicide squeeze that every one grammar and syntax go flying out the window.
Raley has fouled off two bunts this season, making for seven whole makes an attempt. His approach has been the identical on all seven. He’s not drag bunting up the primary bottom line, and he’s not bailing out of the field at high pace and easily attempting to get the ball down any approach he can. He’s squaring all the way in which round pretty early within the pitcher’s supply and pushing the ball firmly between the mound and the third bottom line. Whenever you pause the video at that time and see Raley hunched over, physique angled towards third base, legs unfold broad, fully flat-footed, you’d completely guess that he was trying to execute a sacrifice (or probably to sneak up on Scooby-Doo and his meddling human associates):
However then two issues occur. First, the bunt goes down within the excellent spot: far sufficient from the third bottom line that it doesn’t danger going foul, agency sufficient to get previous the pitcher, and weak sufficient that the third baseman has to cost exhausting. Second, Raley begins operating.
His first two official bunt hits got here just because the third baseman was shaded over towards shortstop. Neither bunt even drew a throw, and the second was so completely positioned that third baseman Eugenio Suárez, with no play to make, as an alternative determined to kick it into foul territory:
Raley’s third bunt hit got here with no outs and a runner on second base. The Mariners have been main, 6-5, within the ninth inning, making it an comprehensible time for a sacrifice. Whereas Raley little doubt would have settled for transferring the runner over, he was after extra. Third baseman Ildemaro Vargas declined to barehand the ball, however nonetheless made a rapid, sturdy throw. It simply wasn’t quick sufficient to catch the rushing Raley, who was known as out initially, however was proven to have overwhelmed the throw by the slimmest of margins on overview. It wasn’t a shock. It wasn’t making the most of a gap within the protection. It was only a 6-foot-4, 235-pound man beating out a bunt hit in an apparent bunt state of affairs:
Raley’s fourth bunt hit got here final Wednesday. This time, he challenged Maikel Garcia, who has a powerful case for being the very best third baseman in all of baseball. Garcia was taking part in deep, however not essentially out of place, and Raley’s bunt pressured him to make a do-or-die barehanded play. The rushed throw would have overwhelmed Raley had it been on course, however it ended up crusing broad and into the Dugout Suite. (The Dugout Suites are fake dugouts located proper subsequent to the precise dugouts in Kauffman Stadium. They function genuine dugout seating, together with an air-conditioned inside space, for whenever you need to expertise the sport identical to a participant, except it’s heat out. They’re obtainable to hire for big teams for a mere $4,375, except you need meals or drinks, which price additional.):
Raley’s final bunt hit was undoubtedly probably the most thrilling. It got here with the Mariners down by a run within the backside of the eighth inning. With two outs and runners on first and third, it was such a shock that play-by-play announcer Dave Sims was mere moments from merely screaming, “Is bunt! Is bunt!” As a substitute, he yelled, “Bunt! Oh yeah, that’s gonna work!” He popped the B in bunt so loud that it’s important to pity the poor sound engineer whose ear drums have been ruptured by the decision:
Raley had hit two balls above 105 mph within the recreation, and but he managed to put down an ideal bunt on a 99.1-mph fastball up and in. With two outs, it was an extremely daring transfer. For the third time this season, the third baseman had no alternative however to eat the ball, and the Mariners would full the comeback within the ninth on a walk-off grand slam by Cal Raleigh. Nobody has bunted for a base hit or a sacrifice on a quicker pitch this season, and Raley’s bunt elevated Seattle’s probabilities of successful by 30%, making it probably the most consequential play of the sport. Raley, who’s tied for second on the group with seven residence runs, appeared to be searching for the chance to bunt. “The primary two pitches, the third baseman was in and the lane wasn’t there,” he instructed Shannon Drayer. “And after the second pitch, he backed up and I made a decision simply to take my shot… It’s robust, however it’s a type of issues. You’ve simply obtained to be affected person, get the bunt down, and run as exhausting as you possibly can.”
The enjoyable factor about all of that is that Raley’s energy and stature should absolutely be a part of the rationale for his success as a bunter. It’s a must to think about that the truth that he’s gone 10-for-11 on bunts for the reason that begin of final season has made it into scouting experiences. Nonetheless, if you happen to’re a 3rd baseman who simply watched him blast a 110-mph liner off the wall after which lumber across the bases a pair innings in the past, it could be exhausting to imagine that you simply shouldn’t be taking part in deep and shading over towards the opening. It received’t be till it’s already too late, till you’ve walked over, picked up the perfectly-placed ball, and put it in your pocket that you simply lastly settle for the reality: Luke Raley Is Bunt.
