Full Count
A Furiously Updated Red Sox Blog
WEEI.com Blog Network
RSS
A difficult day in the education of Ryan Kalish 09.09.12 at 6:30 pm ET
By Alex Speier

Ryan Kalish

Ryan Kalish is one of the better athletes in the Red Sox organization. He was a star quarterback in high school in New Jersey, and had he fulfilled his two-sport scholarship at the University of Virginia, there was a good chance he would have played in the secondary for the Cavaliers. The 24-year-old talks frequently about his desire to be an instinctual player, learning from players like Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury who trust their athleticism on the field and permit it to impact the game, particularly on the bases.

But while working towards that status, there are mistakes that occur along the way, and Sunday’s 4-3 Red Sox loss to the Blue Jays offered two of the glaring variety. Kalish, batting leadoff on Sunday, singled to lead off the game and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, but then made a mistake in trying to advance from second to third on a grounder right at third baseman Brett Lawrie. Lawrie tagged Kalish and fired to first for an inning-ending double play.

“The play was right in front of him,” said manager Bobby Valentine. “Obviously if he throws him out at first, he’s still in scoring position at second.”

Kalish reached again in the fifth, eliciting a two-out walk. However, he was picked off at first by catcher Jeff Mathis.

“He just got a little nonchalant I guess. It was a really good throw by Mathis,” said Valentine. “You know, he hasn’t played a lot. That’s why he is playing, so he can learn. Those are learning situations.”

Kalish acknowledged that he had to use such moments as learning experiences that he can use to get better. Still, that did not mean that he was anything short of self-skewering in reflecting on a day on which he made a pair of outs on the bases.

“That’s the way you have to treat it, as a learning play. I’m pretty tough on myself in a good way. I need to learn from it, because that’s a huge thing — I want to be an aggressive baserunner, but I also want to be smarter, said Kalish. “I just need to make better reads, man. Bottom line. Bad baseball plays. Bad for the team. That’s the bottom line.”

Kalish rarely ran into outs in his first taste of the majors in 2010. He was successful in 10 of 11 stolen base attempts that year, and in 54 total games, he made a total of four outs on the base (one on a caught stealing, one on a pickoff, two while trying to advance on balls in play). This year, in 32 games, he has matched that total, having been thrown out on steal attempts twice (in five attempts), getting picked off once and being thrown out one additional time while trying to advance a base.

It has been a frustrating stretch for the outfielder as he tries to make an impact even in a year when his ongoing health woes have diminished what he can do on the field.

“I’ve been making mistakes on the bases for a long time. That’s a part of the game. Maybe a little more this year, if you put all the playing time together, maybe. Especially up here, I feel like I’m trying to do too much,” said Kalish. “I don’t have excuses. I’m trying to clean up that part of it. I’m just going to keep working.”

While Kalish’s two times on the bases were rendered meaningless by the fact that he ran into outs, he is showing glimpses of improved at-bats over the past few games. He’s 4-for-8 with a walk in five contests this month. Still, while Kalish described it as “satisfying” to have some improved results at the plate (with his average ticking up from .202 to .228 and his OPS going from .483 to .534 in that span), ultimately, he found little solace to be taken in the day.

“It feels good to make improvements,” quoth Kalish. “But the bottom line is if I get on base, I need to do better.”

Print  |  Email  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • bguy

    What happened to all the “potential” of 
    the Ryan Kalish of two years ago?
    I think he may regret his decision to try
    baseball instead of football.
    Sry to say this but I think he is destined to be a AAA
    player or the 5th outfielder on a major league roster.

  • markfromlynn

    It’s insane this kid is even on the active roster. Both his shoulders are weak and sore from surgeries and he’s only a fraction of the player he was 2 years ago when he came up. Yet another ridiculously bad error in judgement by the Sox medical staff.

  • Dustin the midget

    Another bum of the month club, the sox have had many. The SS is an automatic out. Larverway is another automatic out. 

  • Pablo Anglais

    Too many players describe their “bad play” then act as if it is a thing outside of them that doesn’t count any more and was somehow beyond their control. It is amazing that this young player is describing mistakes, made by him, in the course of his ”learning”, that many teen-agers in organized baseball leagues don’t make, and that most good softball players don’t make. 

  • relax

    Kalish will be an above average RF for the sox if they are smart enough to keep him.  He has had a     tough couple of years injury wise but he will be just fine.  For god’s sake he’s 24 not 34.

  • big93mike

    What the Sox will do is wait until he finally figures it out and starts realizing his potential. They will then trade him for an injury prone player who will immediately get hurt for most of the season. Then Kalish will hit 28+ bombs for his new team and be the number one reason his new team is suddenly a contender. Well maybe this is just a little farfetched. It couldn’t possible happen or could it…

  • Anonymous

    I’ve watched Kalish come up and sat behind him playing one game in Anahiem on the last road trip.  He looked less than impressive.  Distracted in the field and at bat.   Making bad decisions.  If your doing that on the field, your probably doing it off the field as well.  I agree he is injured ( in both shoulders ++++)  but I’m not sure if he is the guy you want to wait for to get back to the outfield.  Try to get someone healthy and let him go.  I’m assuming that is what the plan is but he can’t produce enough to even warrant back a decent arm.  My advice, spend our newfound money wisely.  Go Sox 2013!!!  Load up on ARMS!!!! (young and healthy)

  • Wicksathome

    I think we’ve already seen enough of Kalish and Nava. They’re good guys, but they have shown that they are not impact players. Even Lavarnway is leaning in that direction. For our outfield, we should have three outstanding players every year. Ross has performed very well. Ellsbury had his career year last year. I’d like to see Cherington keep Ross in right field and pick up two excellent outfielders during the offseason. Trade away Ellsbury, Kalish and Nava. In the outfield we need guys who know how to play defense AND can hit.

  • Doug

    I’ve been a Kalish fan since he came up in 2010, he’s really paid the price physically with his injuries, I like his honest attitude and willingness to keep working hard, I think over the Winter he’ll be a much improved player come Spring, it really is a shame as I remember him as an athlete ready to burst into SuperStardom, instead the injuries have rendered him anything but, yet he has a lot of moxie and will be back, it’s simply taking him a lot longer than he planned, but will make him a better man for it.  Let your actions speak Ryan, we know you can make yourself into a great player. ad Nike says “just do it”

  • Doug

    Time will tell on this score, it’s good that you are a DR.

  • Doug

    And you are a mental midget!

  • Doug

    Beg to differ with you Cole, Kalish has proved (2010) that he can do it in a big way, injuries have thrown him off track, this fall and winter he’ll prove that he’s worth keeping, he’s from the old school hard work and honesty are the best poicies & this is the type of guy he is. A keeper, GO KALISH!!!!!!!!!!

  • Doug

    Ross is OK at the plate, a part time butcher in the OF, Ells we have to keep, Kalish will turn out OK, Navas’ numbers tailed off quick representing what he really is a AAA outfiielder who was overachieving and made it on grit  hard work.  The only one who should go is Nava, try to get a power hitter for LF.

  • JerseyNation

     Good thoughts. Doug, I’m with you on Kalish. Although I’ve stated that no player should be sacred during the off season if needed to complete a trade for the betterment of the team, I do think that Ryan was brought back too early from rehab after undergoing such serious surgery. As you say he is a self motivated player and I would not be suprised if he puts in a lot of work over the winter and returns to his 2010 form next year.

  • Jeter_cheats

    All young players make maddening mistakes. Most of the time in happens in AAA where few see the mistakes.
     Red Sox fans need to be patient. Give them at least 2 full years of MLB before making judgement. Rebuilding can be a maddening process. It will not work if young players are paraded through without a good long look. The same people who want to give up on Kalish, Lavarnway and Iglesias, have no plan to get this team right except to throw piles of cash at Hamilton, and Mauer. 
     

Red Sox Box Score
Red Sox Schedule
Baseball Analytics Blog
Red Sox Headlines
Red Sox Minor League News
Red Sox Team Leaders
MLB Headlines
Tips & Feedback

Verify