Extra innings brings extra strategy. Just don’t expect the top hitters to decide it

When the Nationals and Mets went to extra innings this past Monday, Washington was quick to intentionally walk Juan Soto in the top of the 10th. Then New York returned the favor, giving James Wood a free pass in the bottom half. When Soto came up again in the 12th, the Nats pitched to him — but after the count went to 2-0 he was sent to first to complete another intentional walk.

This back and forth was hardly a surprise. One byproduct of the automatic runner on second base is that extra innings are one of the few times managers can still stomach ordering up an intentional walk. It’s a strategy that was beginning to fall out of favor otherwise.

In 2019, only 753 intentional walks were issued in the major leagues. That was the fewest since 1961, when there were fewer teams and fewer games.

And the number has only decreased since 2019. There were just 474 intentional walks in 2023 and 556 last year. Just as some statistically minded thinkers frown on the sacrifice bunt — don’t give away outs! — it’s also considered risky to give the other team an extra baserunner.

But in extra innings, the calculus changes. The inning starts with first base open, and if it’s still tied in the bottom half, there’s little downside to walking a good hitter intentionally and setting up a potential double play.

From 1974 to 2019 — before the automatic runner — there was an intentional walk every 140 plate appearances. In extra innings, it was one every 26.7.

Since 2020, there has been an intentional walk every 335 plate appearances overall. But in extra innings, it has been one every 16.7. In extra innings, intentional walks are actually more common than they used to be.

Some fans may enjoy the extra strategy, while others surely find it frustrating to watch the bat taken out of a player like Soto’s hands. Since 2020, here are the major league leaders in extra-inning RBIs:

1. Eugénio Suarez, 22

2. Josh Naylor, 21

3. Alec Bohm, 20

4. Adolis García, 20

5. Daulton Varsho, 18

Here are the leaders in extra-inning intentional walks:

1. José Ramírez, 25

2. Aaron Judge, 19

3. Juan Soto, 16

4. Shohei Ohtani, 15

5. Bryce Harper, 15

The two intentional walks to Soto didn’t stop the Mets on Monday. They scored 10 runs in the 12th inning and won 16-7. Carson Benge had two hits and three RBIs in the inning. Benge now has an MLB-best six extra-inning RBIs this season.

Trivia time

Which player hit five extra-inning home runs in the 2010 season alone? (Hint: His team reached the World Series that year.)

Performance of the week

Reid Detmers of the Los Angeles Angels struck out 14 in eight one-hit innings Sunday night. Jake Burger homered in the second. That was the only batter Detmers failed to retire.

The Angels beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 on a ninth-inning throwing error by Justin Foscue.

Comeback of the week

The Arizona Diamondbacks were down by two in the bottom of the ninth to San Francisco on Tuesday night, with two outs and one on. Adrian Del Castillo hit an RBI single and Ryan Waldschmidt reached on catcher’s interference. Then Ketel Marte’s three-run homer gave Arizona a 5-3 win. San Francisco’s win probability peaked at 95.4% according to Baseball Savant.

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The Diamondbacks have taken advantage of a soft patch on their schedule, going 8-2 against the Giants and Rockies in their last 10 games.

Trivia answer

Nelson Cruz.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb