The scrutinized Royals decisions are mere distractions from the real ALDS problem

The fastest runner in baseball shuffled a few feet from first base, twisted his body toward second and lifted his foot off the ground.

And then just plain stopped.

A bluff.

Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. accounted for the potential tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday, with a sold-out Kauffman Stadium crowd on its feet and two capable hitters behind the man on first. A pretty ideal scenario, it seemed.

Witt, after all, is the statistical top sprinter in the game. He has 154 “bolts,” as Statcast phrases them — instances in which he’s moving at least 30 feet per second. That’s nearly 50% more than the second-fastest major-leaguer in the metric.

So why didn’t he run?

Some decisions will be scrutinized after the Yankees swiped Game 3 of the American League Division Series from the Royals, 3-2 — which, to be frank, is part of the enjoyment of playoff baseball’s return to Kansas City. The little things matter again because the games matter again.

Like, say, stealing an extra 90 feet. Like moving into scoring position in case one of the next two batters singles. Salvy Perez did, by the way. It moved Witt to third, not home plate.

That’s why we’re having this discussion. A steal appeared such an obvious decision in a one-run game.

On the face of it.

A deeper look explains the rationale.

The Yankees had already brought closer Luke Weaver in the game for a five-out save, and as good as he’s been delivering pitches to home plate lately, he’s even better with his concentration on first base. Statcast measures how much distance a baserunner gains from the time a pitcher begins his delivery to the time the baseball leaves his hand. Weaver is the fastest right-hander in MLB and second fastest overall among 338 qualifiers for the stat. He concedes only 5.3 feet in that time.

“He’s quick,” Witt said.

There’s more.

Witt thought about stealing — I don’t want to make it into a clear-cut decision — but processed a few things before he ultimately held back. Weaver’s timing topped the list. But there is a list.

Witt was caught stealing 12 times during the regular season, third most in baseball. And it’s not because he lost a step. Well, I take that back. He too frequently lost on the first step.

“My jumps haven’t been great this year, so I don’t want to force anything when we got two guys coming up where I’m in scoring position from first,” Witt said.

More, still.

For one pitch, he was on base with Vinnie Pasquantino at the plate. When he led off from the base, the Yankees were forced to hold him on, expanding the pull-side hole for Pasquantino. That’s an advantage he wanted to keep. On the ensuing six pitches, it was Perez at the plate.

“If I steal with Salvy up, they pitch around him or walk him, and we’re in the same situation we’re in,” Witt said.

He’s not wrong.

All year long, the Royals have been carried by their rotation — which remains quite good for Game 4 and a possible Game 5, so this isn’t over — along with the three men in the middle of the lineup. That’s why, when one of those three went down in late August (Pasquantino) things got a bit hairy.

The Royals need to preserve as many swings as possible for those three — Witt, Pasquantino and Perez — rather than permit the opposition to take the bat out of their hands.

Which is the real story of this series. The scrutiny of a stolen base, or the scrutiny of whether Royals lefty Kris Bubic should’ve been the pitcher throwing to right-handed Giancarlo Stanton, is creating a distraction from the actual problem.

The meat of the Royals’ lineup isn’t carrying its weight right now. In the ALDS, the trio of Witt, Pasquantino and Perez is a combined 4-for-37 with two walks and 13 strikeouts.

That doesn’t cut it. Not for the makeup of this team. The Royals aren’t comprised of a group in which any given night, it’s someone different sparking a win. The lineup is carried by the three sandwiched at 2-3-4, and they’ve hit like 7-8-9 for three games.

They didn’t win many three-game series all year with that group putting up those numbers. Heck, the No. 5 hitter in the lineup is a 40-year-old who spent the season in the minor leagues. And Yuli Gurriel has been one of their best hitters this week.

The Yankees’ No. 5 hitter, by contrast, is Stanton. You saw what he did Wednesday. His legs seem to have aged a decade in the last 12 months. The swing still plays.

There is some talk that the Royals made a mistake in allowing Bubic, a lefty, to throw to Stanton, a righty, in the eighth. Stanton provided the game-winning blast, a line-drive hitter instead supplying a towering shot with a 35-degree launch angle.

But Bubic has actually been notably better against right-handed hitters than lefties in his relief role this season. Right-handers have hit just .200 against him, with a .553 on-base plus slugging (OPS) percentage. It’s been his strength.

It did not work Wednesday night. But once more, the process had logic behind it.

Look, this AL Division Series was billed around the two-horse MVP race that we enjoyed over the back half of the season, even if one of them would pull ahead.

It still is about that — even if those two stars haven’t hit. Witt is 1-for-13 in the ALDS. Judge is 1-for-11.

The initial three games of the series haven’t debunked the idea that this best-of-five set will pivot on their bats.

They’ve proven it.

It’s not about the legs of one star Royals player.

It’s still about the bats of three.