Luke Raley is a giant, robust man. The Seattle outfielder stands 6-foot-4, weighs 235 kilos, and spent a lot of his childhood in Ohio felling timber with a chainsaw. He’s received 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 referred to as him “a giant ball of muscle” and stated, “He type of performs like a monster.” Simply final night time he launched a moonshot house run that reached an altitude of 104 toes. And but by some means, for those who Google the phrase luke raley feats of energy, that is all that comes up:
To start with, sure, Raley is married. He came upon that he received traded to Seattle throughout his honeymoon, whereas enjoying pool volleyball. Second, there’s a reasonably good motive that Raley’s energy doesn’t headline his search outcomes: He’s greater than only a beef boy. Raley has finesse. In truth, he’s presently tied with Jacob Younger for the main league lead with 5 bunts for a base hit. Whereas Younger has a 35.7% success fee on his bunts, Raley is the one participant up to now this decade to bunt for at the very least 5 hits in a season whereas sustaining a 1.000 batting common on these bunt makes an attempt. Wish to guess who’s in second place? That may be 2023 Luke Raley, who went 5-for-6 in his bunt makes an attempt. The massive, robust man has a giant, robust bunt recreation.
For those who return all the way in which to 2002, the primary yr we now have data on bunt success fee, solely three gamers have achieved 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 advantage of the infield shift, is on tempo for 12 bunt hits this season, however he’d solely want two to tie the report.
That is extraordinarily enjoyable for just a few causes, the primary being that Raley merely doesn’t appear like the kind of participant who leads the league in bunt hits. Under is a graph that reveals each participant with at the very least 4 bunt hits this season. You recognize 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 mix 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 method taller than they’re. It’s that he’s simply plain larger. Usually talking, listed weights aren’t that informative since they don’t get up to date with a lot regularity. Nonetheless, it’s price consulting them on this case, provided that Raley outweighs Garrett Hampson, the second participant on the record, by greater than 50 kilos:
If Raley and Jose Altuve wished to go on a see-saw collectively — and there’s no motive to consider that they don’t — Altuve would wish to stuff his pockets with 214 baseballs with the intention to steadiness out the burden differential. If Raley and Steven Kwan wished to go on a see-saw collectively, Kwan might steadiness out the differential by stuffing his pockets with 39% of Jose Altuve.
The second motive Raley won’t 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 type of optical phantasm; it appears like he’s winding as much as take a huge stride, solely to alter his thoughts and put his foot down just a few inches behind the place he picked it up within the first place. Wrote John Trupin, “Luke Raley runs like he isn’t shifting himself quicker, however as an alternative slowing the earth’s rotation with the power 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 energetic. 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 working type, however fortunately he hasn’t succeeded. “I imply, I see it,” he advised reporters. “Belief me. I’ve seen loads of movies of myself enjoying, and I’m going, ‘Wow, that appears actually dangerous.’” However right here’s the factor: It really works. Raley is undeniably quick. His 28.8 mph 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 appear like somebody who ought to be bunting for a success, however the success fee 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 accessible packing containers:
There’s one thing delightfully weird concerning the phrase Is Bunt. Not that it’s alone — there are many nice choices right here. Is Blast positively has its charms; it appears like one thing a toddler from the Nineteen Sixties would ask for those who tried to elucidate what a Slip ‘N Slide was. Is Final Pitch can be enjoyable, in that it appears like a not-so-vague risk from a pitching coach who doubles as a mob enforcer. However Is Bunt is the most effective. It appears like what the play-by-play announcer screams within the backside of the ninth inning once they’re so shocked by a suicide squeeze that each one grammar and syntax go flying out the window.
Raley has fouled off two bunts this season, making for seven complete makes an attempt. His approach has been the identical on all seven. He’s not drag bunting up the primary final analysis, and he’s not bailing out of the field at high pace and easily attempting to get the ball down any method 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 final analysis. If you pause the video at that time and see Raley hunched over, physique angled towards third base, legs unfold huge, fully flat-footed, you’d completely guess that he was making an attempt to execute a sacrifice (or presumably to sneak up on Scooby-Doo and his meddling human mates):
However then two issues occur. First, the bunt goes down within the good spot: far sufficient from the third final analysis that it doesn’t danger going foul, agency sufficient to get previous the pitcher, and weak sufficient that the third baseman has to cost onerous. Second, Raley begins working.
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 had been main, 6-5, within the ninth inning, making it an comprehensible time for a sacrifice. Whereas Raley little question would have settled for shifting the runner over, he was after extra. Third baseman Ildemaro Vargas declined to barehand the ball, however nonetheless made a rapid, robust throw. It simply wasn’t quick sufficient to catch the dashing Raley, who was referred to as out initially, however was proven to have crushed the throw by the slimmest of margins on assessment. 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 scenario:
Raley’s fourth bunt hit got here final Wednesday. This time, he challenged Maikel Garcia, who has a robust case for being the most effective third baseman in all of baseball. Garcia was enjoying 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 crushed Raley had it been heading in the right direction, nevertheless it ended up crusing huge 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 once you need to expertise the sport similar to a participant, until it’s heat out. They’re accessible to lease for giant teams for a mere $4,375, until you need meals or drinks, which price further.):
Raley’s final bunt hit was positively essentially 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 you must pity the poor sound engineer whose ear drums had 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 selection 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 possibilities of profitable by 30%, making it essentially the most consequential play of the sport. Raley, who’s tied for second on the crew with seven house runs, gave the impression to be searching for the chance to bunt. “The primary two pitches, the third baseman was in and the lane wasn’t there,” he advised Shannon Drayer. “And after the second pitch, he backed up and I made a decision simply to take my shot… It’s powerful, nevertheless it’s a type of issues. You’ve simply received to be affected person, get the bunt down, and run as onerous 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 important 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 stories. Nonetheless, for those who’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 is perhaps onerous to consider that you simply shouldn’t be enjoying 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.