False hustle

Finally! Somebody in the organization says it. Ryan Theriot needlessly diving around the field isn’t hustling. Alan Trammel called it false hustle. To Theriot’s credit, he’s stayed on his feet much better this year. As a result, and this is no surprise, he’s actually made a few plays in the hole. Who knew if you stayed on your feet you could make more plays? His diving around the infield has always irritated me. Theriot knows he’s not going to convert 95% of those into outs, but dives anyway. There’s only one reason why you’d do that: it makes it look like you’re hustling despite giving no additional effort. Not to mention, the odds of Theriot throwing anybody out once he leaves his feet is slim to none. He can get the force out at 2nd if he dives on balls to his left, but he’s not getting anybody at 1st once he leaves his feet unless his last name is Molina and his first name is Bengie. Theriot could field a sharply hit ball into the LF corner and thrown Molina out at 1st. H/T to Suburban Kid