MLB Off-Topic

[reyes the roof]

I’m curious to see if teams start building their roster differently now. Infielders with good range and hitters that put the ball in play should be in higher demand now

[Majingir]

Will be interesting to see how game times and games overall wind up.

This is the lowest batting average season since the 60s. Shifts do play a part in that.

And game times being above 3 hours again this year. The last decade has been bad in terms of game times, so let's hope the pitch clock can bring it down. We haven't seen game times under 2hrs and 40 mins in almost 40 years! We have a shot of finally seeing that in 2023.

Quote:

Umpires may provide extra time if warranted by special circumstances. (So if, as an example, a catcher were to be thrown out on the bases to end the previous half-inning and needed additional time to put on his catching gear, the umpire could allow it.)

This reminds me slightly of my league growing up.


If there were 2 outs and the catcher is on base, whoever was the most recent batter to get out would be allowed to be the pinch runner so the catcher has time to get their gear on. Of course, if you bat around with 2 outs, then the catcher had to take their gear off (usually whoever was catcher would just go to the batters box with their kneepads on in case the batter before gets out).

[Blzer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

This is the lowest batting average season since the 60s. Shifts do play a part in that.

Is BABIP the lowest since the 60s as well? I have a feeling strikeouts are playing a bigger role.

[countryboy]

Stats shared by Tom Verducci in regards to BA on ground balls since 2015

[Majingir]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blzer

Is BABIP the lowest since the 60s as well? I have a feeling strikeouts are playing a bigger role.

Past few seasons we've seen around 24 balls in play (balls that were playable for defenses in fair territory). The 60s that number was around 27.

For reference, prior to 1997, there had been no season in MLB history where the balls in play number was below 27. Now, ever since 2008, that's been the case every year.

Just some numbers for fun

Quote:

AVG: 1960s-.249 1970s-.256 1980s-.259 1990s-.265 2000s-.265 2010s-.254 2020s-.244 OBP: 1960s-.315 1970s-.323 1980s-.324 1990s-.334 2000s-.335 2010s-.320 2020s-.317 OPS: 1960s-.689 1970s-.700 1980s-.711 1990s-.743 2000s-.758 2010s-.728 2020s-.725 SO: 1960s-5.70 1970s-5.15 1980s-5.34 1990s-6.12 2000s-6.56 2010s-7.82 2020s-8.57 BB: 1960s-3.14 1970s-3.30 1980s-3.22 1990s-3.43 2000s-3.34 2010s-3.10 2020s-3.24 R: 1960s-4.05 1970s-4.15 1980s-4.30 1990s-4.67 2000s-4.76 2010s-4.39 2020s-4.49

Now we do see more "hit or miss" approaches, but it's interesting that despite strikeouts going way up, walks has actually stayed around a similar number throughout the decades.

[Speedy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Master Live 013

Not sure about the step off stuff, need to read more about it. The only thing I definitely don't like are the shift restriction.

NBA created illegal defense and added the paint circle where charges aren't called. I think the shift makes sense to me.

[phenom1990]

I’m just happy there is a pitch clock. I loved watching Cliff Lee and Mark Buehrle pitch partly because of their pace.

[dubcity]

The shifts have been a pet peeve of mine. And I'm definitely pro pitch clock at this point, even though I'm not sure it fixes anything significantly. My issues with baseball are about the obsession with (and general attitude about) specialization and analytics.