Randy Arozarena Barely Stood in the Box and Still Worked a Walk

All the pitcher had to do was throw it down the middle.

Randy Arozarena is among the best in the majors at working walks. He’s so good at it, in fact, that he doesn’t even really have to stand in the batter’s box in order for the pitcher to issue him a free pass. 

In the first inning of the Rays’ game against the Giants on Monday, Arozarena reached on a walk despite never even coming close to taking the bat off his shoulder. In fact, Arozarena didn’t even spend the entire at-bat standing within striking distance of home plate. Even still, Christian Walker couldn’t find the zone and Arozarena earned a free trip to first base. 

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Arozarena tracked the first two pitches from Christian Walker like normal, but right as Walker delivered his third pitch, Arozarena backed out of the batter’s box. On 2–1, Walker missed high with a two-seamer, and while Arozarena kept both feet planted in the box, he dropped his hands to his chest and decided not to swing before Walker even released the pitch. On 3–1, Arozarena backed out of the box again while Walker was still in his windup. The pitch missed, so Arozarena was awarded first base.

That’s weird, right? Why would Arozarena bail out of the box before the pitch was thrown? It didn’t look like he was trying to call time. He might have just been messing with Walker, trying to get under his skin by signaling that he didn’t think he was capable of getting the ball in the zone. If he was, it worked.