Baseball's problem

[Duck_walk]

Lack of action. Lack of balls in play.
More walks, K's, and homeruns means less plays being made. The average game so far in 2017 has only 66% of atbats including a ball put in play. Down from 75% just one generation ago continuing a 100+ year trend downward.

http://www.highheatstats.com/2013/05/fraction-of-balls-put-in-play-is-at-an-all-time-low/
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[Neutron Monster]

I agree 100%. Walks and Ks take forever.

 

[oldroundballer]

Lack of action. Lack of balls in play.
More walks, K's, and homeruns means less plays being made. The average game so far in 2017 has only 66% of atbats including a ball put in play. Down from 75% just one generation ago continuing a 100+ year trend downward.

http://www.highheatstats.com/2013/05/fraction-of-balls-put-in-play-is-at-an-all-time-low/
.

I'd have to think relief pitchers are a pretty big part of that. The use of specialty pitchers just continues to rise. That has to be having an affect.

Even though Greg Maddox might not agree the strike zone has gotten a little bigger. That has to be having some affect as well.

There's not a lot of small ball being played now days. It seems to be more of either a jack or K trying. The days of just put it in play and run are pretty much long gone.

 

[Duck_walk]

I'd have to think relief pitchers are a pretty big part of that. The use of specialty pitchers just continues to rise. That has to be having an affect.

Even though Greg Maddox might not agree the strike zone has gotten a little bigger. That has to be having some affect as well.

There's not a lot of small ball being played now days. It seems to be more of either a jack or K trying. The days of just put it in play and run are pretty much long gone.

100% correct. I saw the numbers on how many pitchers are used per game and it reaches a new all time high every year.

 

[Neutron Monster]

I'd have to think relief pitchers are a pretty big part of that. The use of specialty pitchers just continues to rise. That has to be having an affect.

Even though Greg Maddox might not agree the strike zone has gotten a little bigger. That has to be having some affect as well.

There's not a lot of small ball being played now days. It seems to be more of either a jack or K trying. The days of just put it in play and run are pretty much long gone.

No doubt the relievers hurt. It's not only that they are specialty pitchers. It's also that the decline in the amount of innings pitched by a starter has led starters to throw harder as well.

 

[Neutron Monster]

Lack of action. Lack of balls in play.
More walks, K's, and homeruns means less plays being made. The average game so far in 2017 has only 66% of atbats including a ball put in play. Down from 75% just one generation ago continuing a 100+ year trend downward.

http://www.highheatstats.com/2013/05/fraction-of-balls-put-in-play-is-at-an-all-time-low/
.

In thinking about this a little, it's tough to see what sort of tweak would really alter this trend too much.

The lowest hanging fruits are probably rules limiting the use of relievers and rules banning defensive shifts, but they don't really address the underlying trend for hitters to be like Matt Carpenter and for pitchers to be like Trevor Rosenthal.

I mean you could do crazy things like eject a hitter who strikes out twice or a pitcher who walks 3 guys but that's never going to happen.

I guess you could tinker with the bats or the ball in some way but that could also result in lower scoring games, which is not something they want.

You're pretty much stuck on the size of the stadiums, no one is going to remove a player from the field defensively, etc.

I'm a bit at a loss.

 

[Duck_walk]

In thinking about this a little, it's tough to see what sort of tweak would really alter this trend too much.

The lowest hanging fruits are probably rules limiting the use of relievers and rules banning defensive shifts, but they don't really address the underlying trend for hitters to be like Matt Carpenter and for pitchers to be like Trevor Rosenthal.

I mean you could do crazy things like eject a hitter who strikes out twice or a pitcher who walks 3 guys but that's never going to happen.

I guess you could tinker with the bats or the ball in some way but that could also result in lower scoring games, which is not something they want.

You're pretty much stuck on the size of the stadiums, no one is going to remove a player from the field defensively, etc.

I'm a bit at a loss.

They were discussing this on a show last night and said the entire reason there is a focus by players and management on launch angle is to beat the shift.

 

[oldroundballer]

They were discussing this on a show last night and said the entire reason there is a focus by players and management on launch angle is to beat the shift.

I kind of wish the Cards would just focus on swinging at good pitches and hitting them.

 

[3Rfan]

They were discussing this on a show last night and said the entire reason there is a focus by players and management on launch angle is to beat the shift.

Yeah it's hard for the shift to have any effect if you hit a HR or SO.