Philosophical Differences

I am a middle-aged man adrift in his sport.  I grew up at a time when baseball players employed a full arsenal of tools that have now been reduced to just two—hit it over the fence and strike him out.  Right now, that first one in particular is bothering me.

 

Blame the Cubs for my foul mood, although they’re hardly alone in going all New-Age Analytics.  Cubs’ manager David Ross says he’s going to use third baseman Kris Bryant as his leadoff man, and he may go with first baseman Anthony Rizzo in the two-hole.  Nellie Fox is spinning in his grave, and Rickey Henderson is so upset he may start talking in the first person.  The days of setting the table for the middle of the order are no more.  The middle of the table is now at the top.  Up is down and down is up.  You get the idea.  If only I did. 

 

Until the invasion of the numbers’ crunchers, hitters like Bryant and Rizzo would’ve batted three/four or four/five, but that’s so old school, so flat earth.  In the new way of thinking, the old way of manufacturing a run took too much time involving too many factors, any of which could lead to an out.  Single or walk; stolen base; sacrifice bunt; sacrifice fly, oh my.  Instead of all that, why not just stand there and jack the ball?

 

The old way involved multiple batters to generate one run while the new way proposes every batter has the potential to generate a run all by himself.  But here’s the thing—Singles, stolen bases and bunts can generate plenty of multiple-run innings, just as launch angle can prove to be a false friend.  Yes, everyone but the pitcher can hit the ball very far, but having a bunch power hitters batting one through eight (or nine, depending on the league) also means a lot of strikeouts and injuries.  I don’t ever seem to recall Nellie Fox or Willie McGee or Vince Coleman going down with an oblique.

 

I’m not going to hold my breath for Bryant to steal or Rizzo to bunt him along; that’s not how we play baseball in the Analytic Age.  Clare told me today that she saw on MLB Tonight that the Red Sox weren’t going to do much if any bunting this spring.  Why should they?  It’s all go long or go home.  I’m so sorry, Nellie.