I just watched Jeff Francoeur get thrown out at the plate by Hunter Pence in the 7th inning after being waved home by Razor Shines. Francoeur was out by, conservatively, 10 feet. This proves that Razor does no preparation before games in order to learn about the opposing team's outfielders. If he did, he may have found out the following about Pence:
- John Walsh at The Hardball Times determined that Pence had the best outfield throwing arm of any right fielder in baseball in 2008.
- UZR agreed, putting his arm at +8.6 runs, again the best in baseball. For overkill, +/- said +12 for his arm. In 2009, he is having another great year according to the defense metrics.
- Don't like stats? In the few Astros games I've seen over the last few years, I have witnessed the Pence cannon in action multiple times. Dozens of "anonymous scouts" would probably agree.
In this specific case, Pence was quite shallow in right field when he fielded Daniel Murphy's single. If there is one right fielder in the National League with an arm that should not be tested it is Pence. Razor Shines doesn't care. Razor Shines is intense, vocal, and a big proponent of the 80-pitch drill. Razor Shines has no use for statistics or, apparently, scouting reports. Razor Shines is just here to bring the ruckus and be aggressive for the sake of being aggressive.