Padres' All-Star Ordered Himself to Bunt in Clutch Situation; Was it The Right Call?

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 30, 2024

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

On Wednesday night with the San Diego Padres tied at 3-3 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Jurickson Profar came to the plate with the go-ahead run on second base.

Profar decided to lay down a sacrifice bunt moving the runner to third.

There wasn't a signal given from the dugout or third base; Profar made the decision on his own. He wasn't told not to bunt.

“We give Pro the option,” said manager Mike Shildt. “I trust him. And he trusts his teammates. It doesn’t always work out. But, man, I trust him completely in that at-bat in making his decision and [his] feel for the game.”

In the moment, the move made sense with Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado due up. The sacrifice also raised the Padres' win probability from 67 percent to 68 percent, according to MLB.com's A.J. Cassavell.

Mike Shildt discussed Joe Musgrove's outing, Jurickson Profar's bunt in the 9th inning and Xander Bogaerts' defense at second base: pic.twitter.com/tJqGJE3C8S

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) August 29, 2024

Eight days before, Profar showed bunt as the go-ahead run. The pitch was outside and taken for a ball. One pitch later, Profar blasted a three-run homer. He has 21 home runs this year.

The difference between the two games was Profar didn't look like himself on Wednesday, and that factored into his ninth-inning approach.

“You didn’t see my at-bats tonight?” Profar asked rhetorically. “I was 0-for-4.”

If he was feeling more confident at the plate maybe he doesn't lay down a sacrifice bunt. He did what he did, and if he had to it all over again, he would.

“I’m just playing the game,” Profar said. “Croney, he’ll bring that run in most of the time. Sometimes, it doesn’t work. We lose some, we win some. I bet you we win more than we lose.”

San Diego split the four-game series with St. Louis, which isn't great news as they are in the hunt for a postseason berth whether it be as a National League Wild Card or the NL West champs.

The loss was a tough pill to swallow considering Joe Musgrove gave the Padres six strong innings and Kyle Higashioka's game-tying home run in the eighth inning.

“Higgy hits that blast, and it was kind of a shot of life,” Musgrove said. “But Helsley’s one of the best in the league. Really tough stuff. We put ourselves in a situation to get a chance to score and just didn’t come out with it. Not much to hang our heads for.”