For St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Harrison Bader, elite defense is fundamental
When young outfielders are taught to play the position, they’re taught to get behind the approaching ball and always catch it with two hands, both to guarantee the stability of the catch and to prepare for a throw to the infield with their momentum aimed at their target.
By the time those young outfielders reach Major League Baseball, they’ve usually earned a little leeway with their mechanics, and a ball caught with one hand or off to the side isn’t particularly unusual.
Cardinals center fielder Harrison Bader, however, doesn’t give himself that slack.
“You have to train good habits,” Bader said on the field at Busch Stadium this week. “It’s easy to add bad habits when there’s no pressure, when we’re up by a bunch of runs, down by a bunch of runs.
“I just do all those things because in the back of my head, I’m just training for the World Series, playoffs. Training for, you know, big moments. And that’s what we preach here.”
To watch Bader patrol centerfield is to watch an elite defender who’s coming into his own as an offensive player, playing perhaps the best baseball of his career.
It’s also to see him backpedaling on balls in front of him, crossing his feet like an NHL defenseman bearing down on a winger to improve his angle whenever possible.
Chicago’s Willson Contreras saw that preparation in action on Wednesday night, when a would-have-been two run home run to left center was snatched back by Bader, who leaped above the wall and came down with a sensational catch—made with both hands, his body behind the ball, square in his chest even as he left the ground.
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said he couldn’t remember a time when he saw Bader catch a fly ball any other way, save for instances which required him to dive or slide.
“Harrison has always had exceptional habits defensively,” Shildt said. “He doesn’t go out there (during batting practice) to shag (fly balls) just to kind of hang out and float around and catch a ball or two. He goes out there with a sense of purpose.”
“Efficiency and balance”
Bader ascribed that sense of purpose to one of his college coaches at the University of Florida, Brad Weitzel.
Weitzel described to Bader the necessity of “getting (his) body into it,” guaranteeing efficiency and balance, and that balance has always been what Bader sought on the field.
Reached by phone, Weitzel said that Bader stands out among the 71 players he’s coached who have signed big league contracts — a list that includes current stars Pete Alonso and Jonathan India — for his commitment to those fundamentals.
“He’s the only one,” Weitzel said with a chuckle when asked about how many players have Bader’s commitment to flyball fundamentals.
Bader, Weitzel explained, arrived at Florida with a commitment to learn and be coached, which separated him from his other charges. Now, when Weitzel watches Bader on TV, he sees the same hungry fielder who arrived on campus in Gainesville in 2012.
Clearer vision
Despite his commitment to his craft, Bader found himself occasionally slowed by persistent congestion and watery eyes which interfered with his vision. This offseason, Bader had polyps surgically removed from both of his nasal passages to correct that issue.
He said that a personal physician in his hometown of Bronxville, NY detected the polyps several years back and warned Bader that they would intensify if not treated. By this winter, they’d grown to the degree that Bader said his left side was 95 percent congested; the right was blocked at 90 percent.
With the polyps removed, Bader said that his previous recurring issues with seasonal allergies and nasal congestion have cleared up entirely. He’s also able to sleep more soundly, describing both the ability to recall his dreams for the first time in several years and waking up with a true sense of rest and refreshment.
Without allergies and congestion, Bader no longer finds his vision partially obscured during at bats in the oppressive summer heat. It’s much easier to hit the ball when you can see the ball.
Stability at bottom of batting order
In his first 15 games since returning from a broken rib he sustained while diving after a fly ball in Chicago, Bader stabilized the bottom of the order with a .352 batting average and .537 slugging percentage.
His four doubles and two homers in that time frame contrast well with a mere nine strikeouts, and consistent contributions from Bader as well as Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson have allowed the Cardinals to stabilize an outfield that, in recent years, was a source of constant consternation.
“Offensive outfield production is really important,” Shildt said. “When we haven’t had it, regardless of who’s out there, it compromises our ability to score consistent runs. When we have it, it makes life a lot easier.”
Video-perfect mechanics come after intentional repetition, coupled with the guidance from coaches like Weitzel along the way. There’s an old saying about prior preparation’s impact on performance that’s borne out each time Bader hawks a towering fly ball to centerfield, and his manager sees it reflected on a daily basis.
“Your habits are only tested when you don’t think they matter,” Shildt said. “But they show up when they do matter.”
And that’s when Harrison Bader holds on with two hands.
This story was originally published July 25, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
