Bunting...should it be done more or less?

[Titans309fan]

I just watched Texas Tech bunt with men on 1st and 2nd and no outs, sending them to 2nd and 3rd. But a short pop up and a nice defensive play ended the inning with no one scoring.

Vandy this year appears to rarely bunt, unless it is a squeeze situation.

The big question is whether giving up an out is worth it. As a lifelong fan of the Braves, I see bunts all the time in the majors, but mainly because pitchers rarely hit well. With a Vandy lineup as potent as it is, should they bunt more or keep it about the same? What worries me is that Vandy has generated 7 of their 9 runs this CWS via the home run, so what happens when Vandy is down by a run or two and can't get a homer?

I am just curious what you all think. Personally, I would like more bunts and steals by this team to manufacture more runs and not be so reliant on the homer.

[Ndorefin]

I can see your point and we use to bunt quite often in the past. There have been many times where I thought a bunt would be the right call. I don’t believe we are reliant on the homer, it just so happens we hit a lot of them. This is the best hitting VU team I have ever seen and I believe Corbs has so much confidence in the hitters, he just doesn’t want to bunt. I does appear at times, some of our hitter are trying to hit homers and all we get are long fly outs, but I don’t believe Corbs is relying on the homers in his strategy..

[VUDU]

JJ should bunt down the third base line when they do that ridiculous shift. Other than that, I like to play for big innings with this lineup. I hate giving up outs.

[Versus75]

I would bunt 1st and 2nd nobody out, especially with a high-K guy like Infante at the plate.
But I would not bunt 1st base nobody out unless the fielder is so far back that we attempt to bunt for a hit.

Louisville last night had its Designated Runner (14 SB only 58 AB) on first with nobody out and bunted him to second base. He should have stolen second and then they could have bunted him to third.
But then Louisville mostly steals bases against Morehead State and Janes Nadison, not SEC catchers.

[mathguy]

I believe sabermetrics these days largely say that bunts and stolen bases are rarely worth the risk (statistically).

If you are bunting for a hit, go for it.

If you are bunting to move the runners, advanced stats say that out is too valuable to give up ... though even a math guy like me understands that stats based decisions don't always include context.