To steal a line that Reggie Jackson was used to describe another great baseball star: "Blind people would go to the stadium just to listen to him hit."
Posted on 05/15/2019 12:33:21 PM PDT by C19fan
MLB did something in 2008 that looked fairly unremarkable. The league set a new record for strikeout rate, bumping just a hair above the record of 17.3% after having spent the last decade bouncing back and forth within the boundaries of a single percentage point.
The 17.5% K-rate was not dramatically higher than the previous record from 2001. But it was the start of something big. Baseball broke this record again in 2009—and 2010, and 2011, and every year since, with no signs of stopping. It’s looked like an unrelenting march across the Land of Balls in Play to the Sea of Three True Outcomes.
The 2019 season has only offered more of the same. In fact, it’s offered dramatically more of the same. It’s not just that the game’s strikeout rate is on track to set a record for the 11th straight year; at this point, the simple existence of a new record hardly feels worth remarking on. No, it’s that the strikeout rate is on track to set a record by a margin that is nearly a record in its own right. Entering Wednesday, 23.2% of plate appearances have resulted in a K—0.9 percentage points above last season’s rate, which might not sound like very much, but on this scale, a tiny fraction can equal hundreds and hundreds of strikeouts. It’s tied for baseball’s eighth-highest increase, year over year, ever, and it’s the second highest in the last quarter-century. So… what does it mean? What does it look like? And where is it going?
(Excerpt) Read more at si.com ...
They don’t want singles because they’re mostly married.
They must be deflating the hockey pucks, too.
As of today, the three highest on-base percentages in the NL are .486 (Bellinger, LAD), .446 (Yelich, MIL), and .439 (McNeil, NYM).
Put all three of those on the same team and put them at the top of the lineup, and you'll find:
1. All other factors aside, the odds of the two batters reaching base safely in the same inning is only 21%.
2. The odds of ALL THREE of them reaching base consecutively is only 9.5%.
So even with the top three players in the National League in terms of on-base percentage, they are statistically likely to get on base consecutively fewer than once every two games.
Put three average players up in a row, and you'll probably find that it's maybe once every 4-5 games.
This is why teams rarely ever try to "manufacture" runs anymore.
Beginning in 1988, when STATS Inc. began tracking numbers in certain counts, Gwynn batted .302 with two strikes. That's easily the best mark for any player in that span, with Wade Boggs coming in second at .260. In fact, in 1994, Gwynn batted an absurd .397 in two-strike counts.
"19 facts about the wonderful career of Gwynn" -- by AJ Cassavell (MLB.com), 5/9/2016
Last night was a heartbreaking loss after Chris Sale punched out 17.
Red Sox strikeout record: Team ties franchise-high with 24 Ks in game vs. Rockies
Boston’s 24 strikeouts tied the mark it set against the Rays on Sept. 15, 2017. Chris Sale had 17 strikeouts in seven innings, Matt Barnes had five in two innings and Brandon Workman added two in his inning.
Boston had 21 strikeouts through nine innings, which would have set a major-league record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The game went to extra innings, leaving the Sox two punch-outs short of the major-league record of 26.
Drop the mound another inch.
Anyone remember Pete Incaviglia back in the 80’s and 90’s?
That guy either put it over the fence or struck out. Total power hitter.
“It makes for a better game IMHO.”
I’d prefer to see the ball hit more often and players on bases more often.
I pretty much agree...3 works, I'd go 5 foul balls yer out, defintely if you already have 2 strikes.
FMCDH(BITS)
So basically “throw strikes they can’t hit”. I heard that from my coach in high school, and it sounds like the concept still holds true.
1. Home run hitters make more money so hitters look to hit more homers. And fans like seeing more homers.
2. To hit more homer’s hitters look for their pitch and employ the latest fads such as staying low and back trying to create better launch angles and lifting their leading leg as a timing trigger.
3. Pitchers (as opposed to throwers) counter with location, speed and movement hoping to get the hitter out on their pitch and not make a mistake by being predictable or catching too much of the plate.
4. But perhaps the biggest impact on strikeouts is the increasing use of relief pitchers whom a hitter may see but once in the game that has different pitches, arm angle and release points and more than likely throws the same way they hit which is to their disadvantage.
5. Personally, I’d rather see a 12-11 game than a 17 strikeout game, although I appreciate displays of personal excellence as well.
To steal a line that Reggie Jackson was used to describe another great baseball star: "Blind people would go to the stadium just to listen to him hit."
In other words, this increase in strikeouts is not a sign of a growing fundamental imbalance, a game clearly tilted toward pitching and away from hitting. (After all, it’s been accompanied by similar increases in walks and home runs.) Instead, it’s closer to a sign of aesthetic imbalance. This is much harder to judge, let alone legislate, but it’s clear: Baseball looks different. It just has to decide if it’s comfortable with that.
In other words, this stupid writer doesn't really know........;
Nor will his post career/felony imprisonments. The fat bastard is a disgrace to the game of baseball and any attempt to get him into the hall of fame should be ridiculed............
Nor will his post season career felony imprisonments...He's a piece of shit!
But he is a widely admired POS.
Now, about Pete Rose...
Josh Hamilton was basically like Incaviglia, in that they were both power hitters who struck out often.
I agree with you. Lots of base runners, hits, plays and scoring are interesting. Game-ending scores of 1-0 are BORING, like soccer games ending nil-nil!
It figures. Go Gators!
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