Grant Green has played pretty well overall since the Angels acquired him from the A’s last month, but he’s failed to get a pair of sacrifice bunt attempts down during the past week.
Today manager Mike Scioscia was asked about Green’s bunting ability and gave reporters an amusing quote about the 25-year-old’s time in the A’s organization. “Oakland never bunted, Green is learning how to bunt,” Scioscia said, clarifying “both” when asked if he meant the A’s never asked Green to bunt or never even taught him how to bunt.
That certainly fits the cliched “Moneyball” perception of the A’s, but here’s the thing: They keep track of sacrifice bunts and Green had 12 of them in the minors, including three this season, which is a lot for a guy who hit well enough (.306 with an .822 OPS for his minor-league career) that bunting was rarely the preferred option. By comparison, Erick Aybar leads the Angels with five sacrifice bunts this season.