What’s the wheel play? How Mookie Betts and the Dodgers pulled off baseball’s rarest defensive gem to save lots of Recreation 2 of the NLDS towards the Phillies

Baseball has a method of sneaking magic into the margins. The sport can sit nonetheless for hours, pitch after pitch, transferring at a snail’s tempo, till — within the blink of a watch — one thing extraordinary unfolds that solely essentially the most devoted of followers acknowledge for what it really is.

On Monday evening at Residents Financial institution Park, within the backside of the ninth inning of Recreation 2 of the Nationwide League Division Sequence, that magic arrived within the type of one thing so uncommon, so completely timed, that it despatched baseball purists reaching for his or her scorebooks — the wheel play.

The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t simply spin the wheel; they redefined it.

Right here’s a breakdown of the defensive technique that everybody is speaking about after the Dodgers held on to defeat the Phillies 4-3, on Monday evening in Recreation 2 of the Nationwide League Division collection.

The Setup

The stress at Citizen’s Financial institution Park was thick sufficient to slice with a rosin bag. The Dodgers led the Phillies 4-3, clinging to a one-run lead after Nick Castellanos roped a two-run double off reliever Blake Treinen. The group in South Philly, infamous for its electrical energy and edge, was roaring. The tying run stood on second with no outs.

Dave Roberts stepped out of the dugout, gradual and regular, to make a change. Lefty Alex Vesia trotted in from the bullpen. However earlier than Vesia even threw a warm-up pitch, the Dodgers huddled on the mound, a small military of blue plotting easy methods to defend their season within the face of a probable bunt from the Phillies subsequent hitter, Bryson Stott.

And that’s when Mookie Betts spoke up.

In line with third baseman Max Muncy, “I’m going to credit score Mook, [Mookie Betts] it was his concept. He stored saying ‘we gotta go wheel play.’ A wheel play will not be one thing we historically do. However me, Mook, and Tommy began speaking about it and when Doc got here out and made the pitching change we talked about it and everybody was on board. We talked about how we have been going to do it and we executed it to perfection.”

Roberts wasn’t certain at first, however after speaking with Betts, he agreed on the technique.

“It was an impromptu play that, I simply instructed Mookie, ‘you realize Stott’s going to bunt. He is a great bunter. Let’s simply run a wheel play. And, Max, be aggressive, area it. And, Mookie, recover from there and beat Castellanos there,’ mentioned Roberts of what he instructed his gamers after they urged to do the wheel play. “These guys executed it to perfection.”

Betts, the group’s do-everything shortstop and unofficial area normal, nodded. He knew the mathematics. Castellanos, not recognized for his pace, might be crushed to 3rd. If the Phillies tried to bunt him over, Mookie would get there first.

Breaking Down the Wheel Play

For the informal fan: the wheel play is baseball’s model of a defensive chess gambit. It’s a uncommon, aggressive counter to the bunt — a transfer that groups apply in Spring Coaching however might by no means use all 12 months. It’s referred to as the wheel play as a result of the infield–and the outfield for that matter–are all transferring to totally different positions so shortly it mimics the mechanism of a wheel.

Right here’s the way it works:

The third baseman and first baseman cost towards dwelling plate, anticipating a bunt.

The shortstop sprints to cowl third base whereas the second baseman covers first.

The pitcher shifts to again up the play.

If the bunt goes down the third-base line, the fielder who fields it — often the third baseman — throws to the shortstop at third base to get the lead runner.

The purpose isn’t simply to get an out — it’s to chop off the center of the rally by eliminating the runner in scoring place.

It’s high-risk, high-reward, and infrequently referred to as upon outdoors of youth leagues or Spring Coaching drills. However on this second — within the cauldron of the NLDS — it was the Dodgers’ finest probability at preserving their one-run lead. 

The Execution

On the subsequent pitch, Stott squared to bunt however pulled again as a result of the pitch was very excessive. This was seemingly intentional by the Dodgers and Vesia. The technique being to throw a pitch nicely outdoors the strike zone to ensure that Stott to disclose his intentions to bunt or not. On this case, Stott did present bunt. The Dodgers now had the knowledge they wanted as a way to run the wheel play. 

One other underrated a part of the play was that on that first pitch ball, the Dodgers didn’t blink. Betts stayed frozen simply lengthy sufficient to promote it. Then got here the subsequent pitch — and Stott laid it down completely alongside the third-base line.

“Max, you throw to Mookie,” Freddie Freeman had instructed Muncy through the mound assembly. “Tommy goes to first, and I’ll dash to second base if it’s not coming to me.”

It performed out precisely that method.

Muncy charged onerous, gloved the ball cleanly, and fired a dart to 3rd base — the place Betts, having damaged late and sprinted full throttle, arrived simply earlier than Castellanos. The tag was crisp, the timing immaculate.

Out at third.

Residents Financial institution Park fell silent — the type of shocked quiet that solely baseball’s most daring performs can create.

Freeman, who was nonetheless racing throughout the diamond to cowl second base, seemed up simply in time to see all of it unfold.

“There’s belongings you do in Spring Coaching that by no means come all through the common season,” Freeman mentioned after the sport. “And the wheel play that we pulled off on that bunt — that was image good by Max and Mookie. That was large getting that man out.”

With the lead runner erased, the tying run was again on first, the double play was so as, and the Dodgers had flipped the inning on its head.

“It was large,” mentioned Muncy after the sport. “You get the man off second base, you get an on the market, and it modifications every thing about that inning.”

Right here’s MLB Community’s breakdown of the play for higher understanding:

The Aftermath

Blake Snell, who threw six scoreless innings and watched the chaos from the dugout, was beaming afterward. “He practices that play on a regular basis,” Snell mentioned of Betts. “For it to occur within the postseason in Philly, robust setting, and to be there, make the throw, make the catch, make the play — that’s fairly wonderful. Everybody did it appropriately. We went loopy.”

Even Phillies supervisor Rob Thomson needed to tip his cap. “Mookie did an ideal job of disguising the wheel play,” Thomson admitted. “We train our guys that for those who see wheel, simply pull it again and slash since you’ve obtained all types of room within the center. However Mookie broke so late that it was robust for Stotty to choose it up.”

That’s the key ingredient — the disguise. The wheel play solely works if the runner and batter don’t see it coming. Betts offered it like a poker participant bluffing a full home.

Right here it’s from above:

Mookie’s Masterclass

When requested postgame if he’d ever obtained this a lot consideration for a play that didn’t even contain his bat, Betts chuckled.

“By no means,” he mentioned. “I’ve by no means had — particularly for such a primary play. There’s solely, like, two or 3 ways, and that’s one in every of them. It might be just like the Lakers — they gained the NBA Championship working the 2-3 zone. That’s how I view it. It’s simply we ran it in an enormous spot and we have been in a position to do it proper. I feel we executed it actually completely myself, simply the timing of it.”

It wasn’t simply the timing — it was the belief. Roberts trusted his gamers to execute one thing complicated on the fly. The gamers trusted one another to maneuver as one. And Betts trusted his instincts.

That’s baseball at its best — 90 toes, 9 minds, one heartbeat.

In a sport obsessive about exit velocity, launch angle, and three-run homers, typically the smallest performs make the largest influence. The wheel play doesn’t pattern on Statcast. It gained’t make Sports activities Heart’s High 10, however on this October evening in Philadelphia, it was every thing.

The Dodgers spun the wheel and gained.