Joe Maddon says Cubs won’t sweat Dodgers’ new-age defensive tactics

The Los Angeles Dodgers just finished a contentious series with the New York Mets that included payback for Chase Utley and the reportedly Mets crying foul about the Dodgers’ fancy, tech-savvy defensive alignments. Now, the Dodgers are headed to Chicago, where new-age Cubs manager Joe Maddon is already telling the Dodgers they don’t have to expect a fight about their lasers.

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The Dodgers have been using laser rangefinders, which are more frequently used in golf and hunting, to make their defensive alignments more precise. MLB rules don’t allow the use of laser rangefingers during games, but the Dodgers have used them before games and then marked positions on the field for their outfielders.

The Mets weren’t having it at Citi Field and reportedly complained to MLB. But Maddon, living up to his easy-going rep, is more like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, telling ESPN’s Doug Padilla:

“If they’re putting markers on the field, that doesn’t bother me,” Maddon said. “They can put bull’s-eyes out there. I don’t care. It doesn’t really matter. There’s other ways to do exactly the same thing without that method of technology just by preparation before the game.”

Joe Maddon isn't worried about much, man. (AP) Before their beef with the Mets, the Dodgers reportedly asked the Citi Field grounds crew before marking their defensive spots in the outfield. The Mets initially said OK, but then backed off. That’s why you might have seen Howie Kendrick in left field for the Dodgers on Friday night digging into his back pocket and looking at defensive-alignment notes.

Sounds like no such worries from the Cubs, who host the Dodgers for four games starting Monday. In fact, Maddon, who is about as non-traditional as MLB managers come, seems to enjoy the use of different technologies and strategies in baseball these days:

“I really like the idea of utilizing that stuff just to chart initially, to be able to use GPS [and] try to be really exact where the ball is hit,” Maddon said. “So then when you compile your information, you’re not getting negative noise.

“We used to do the thing where you had a book in the dugout and you had different colored pencils and somebody would draw a line [to] where the ball is hit. [Now] you’re getting actual results. You know this is true. The dot is there. The dot is accurate.”

That’s Joe Maddon, folks, always baseball’s cool dad.

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