A piece about strikeouts from last year's spring baseball preview. Not going to lie, March Madness is killing my baseball reading. Alas, this piece has some interesting stats on strikeouts, the how and the why, and more. Think about Roy and is strikeout issue (Roy from the novel, not Roy from the film). Be sure to check out the interactive graphic. What to comment on: 1. coolest fact, 2. something you didn't know, and 3. role of strikeouts in today's game (either for batter or pitcher).
This post isn't due until the Sunday night before we return from spring break. That's April 13.
The coolest fact I would have to say is the fact that the Oakland A's set the American League record for most strikeouts against in a season, yet they still finished with a record of 94-68 as well as winning the AL West title. It's very odd to think that a team that strikes out so much can still excel as a very good baseball team. Something that I didn't know was that the amount of homeruns has been lower in recent years. Besides the 2011-2012 season, there have been much less homeruns in compared to previous years. Taking into account the age of PED's and the emphasis on power and strength, this fact is very surprising. The role of strikeouts in the game definitely seems to have more of an impact on the pitchers. Reading about the story with the A's, the batters don't seem to be affected by striking out, just as long as they don't strikeout in a crucial time. They led many teams in least amount of double plays and most homeruns hit, which seemed to prove to be more important for them. In general, strikeouts are valued by pitchers and celebrated by them, but the role of strikeouts in the game has been very much changing for batters, an interesting thing to note about the evolution of baseball into the modern days.
ReplyDeleteI think the coolest fact is that the walk totals had decreased for the third year in 2012. The article says, “Hitters, it seems, are simply not as feared as they were before testing for performance-enhancing drugs began.” I remember going to games when I was little and my dad and brother would grumble about how the other team was walking players like Barry Bonds. When I asked about it, they told me it was because the pitchers were afraid of the hitter. I think it’s really interesting that the dynamic has shifted to almost the opposite now, because pitchers seem to have all the control. The main thing, and probably the most obvious thing, that I didn’t know was how strikeout rates have been increasing. After reading the article, it seems logical given all the fantastic pitchers, but I didn’t think much about it before. Strikeouts always seemed to me like the exceptions instead of the rule, but that seems to have switched. I think in today’s game strikeouts have a bigger role, but they are less momentous. Because strikeouts are more common, hitters don’t feel the same shame when they strikeout, and for pitchers they are expected even more consistently. The strikeout isn’t quite as uncommon as it once was, but it still gives the fans something to cheer about.
ReplyDeleteIn this article, author Tyler Kepner writes, “It could be that the generation of hitters raised in the glow of chemically fueled sluggers still tries to hit like its heroes.” I believe that this theory could have some definite truth to it. Many modern day players pull much of their athletic inspiration from years of watching steroid-enhanced baseball stars. As a result, the newer players are more easily fooled by the strategic pitchers in today’s game. I thought it was interesting that Chili Davis mentioned that timing is the most important factor in determining how much a strikeout matters. It almost seems as if Davis is more willing for his players to fail in a powerful shot than to let the ball fly by intentionally. High value has always been placed on the power-hitters in the major leagues, but now there seems to be less negative energy surroundings their strikeouts. In the past few years, more specialized information regarding pitching styles and techniques have made it even more difficult for hitters to make contact with the ball and maintain their desired level of performance.
ReplyDeleteSandy Schenker:
ReplyDeleteI thought that the coolest fact in this piece was that the Milwaukee Brewers had the second most strikeouts as a staff in the history of the MLB last year, yet as a pitching staff they only had an average rotation. This shocked me because I had always associated a great pitching staff with strikeouts, yet this mediocre staff came only two strikeouts away from breaking the record for most strikeouts in a year. Something I did not know before was that the A's set the AL record for most strikeouts in a year yet they ended 94-68 and won the division. I knew they A's drew a lot of walks and hit a lot of home runs, but I did not realize this came along with the most strikeouts. Lastly, I personally believe that strikeouts are a minor part of the game, and very little can be judged off of them. Ton's of strikeouts by a pitcher suggests that he has nasty stuff, yet in the end it still only counts for one out, the same as a groundout to shortstop. I believe that as long as pitchers are not getting getting hit hard, a strikeout is the same as every other out.
A piece about strikeouts from last year's spring baseball preview. Not going to lie, March Madness is killing my baseball reading. Alas, this piece has some interesting stats on strikeouts, the how and the why, and more. Think about Roy and his strikeout issue (Roy from the novel, not Roy from the film). Be sure to check out the interactive graphic. What to comment on: 1. coolest fact, 2. something you didn't know, and 3. role of strikeouts in today's game (either for batter or pitcher).
ReplyDelete1. I think that the coolest fact is that the Oakland Athletics had such an impressive season last year even though they were the team that struck out the most.
2. What I didn't know is that strikeouts are increasing and home runs are decreasing. That is a very interesting fact because I would think that home runs are still increasing because of the type of bats and baseballs being used that are able to be hit and are always fresh and new.
3. I believe that the reason behind more strikeouts is that pitchers are becoming better and are being used more effectively. No reliever is truly bad and all the starting pitchers can hold their own. The control and various types of pitches available for the pitchers make it increasingly hard for batters to expect a pitch. Very interesting article lots of new information for me!
I think the coolest fact is that the number of walks ha decreased to lower than it was when there were only 26 teams, and the fact that it has been on a consistent downward trend. It really shows the level of control that pitchers have now, and that a decrease in walks does not mean a decrease in power or aggressiveness. I had no idea that the A's had such a bad season in terms of strikeouts, looking at any other stat it would be hard to guess that they were struggling so much to get a hit. This relates to strikeouts' new role in baseball. It is no longer a shameful thing to get a strikeout, and simply hitting isn't the marker of a good team. Like the A's hitting coach said, it is all about when you get your hits. Strikeouts are also losing their extremely negative stigma, as some players are encouraged to hack at the ball in search of a good hit, even though it will most likely raise their strike tally. The demand has become power and the ability to consistently get smaller hits is not the only focus.
ReplyDeleteI would say the coolest fact I learned in the article is that eighteen teams struck out at least 1,200 times last season while through 2005, there had never been a season in which two teams went over that number. I think this shows how much major league pitching has improved and also could show how diligent players are now being at the plate. In addition, I think the connections between steroid testing, home runs and strikeouts with the hitters who heroically try to mimic the steroid-using sluggers is also very interesting and intriguing. Something I did not know is that "power is down" and that it is harder to find. Homeruns seem common to me because that is what they show on ESPN highlights, etc. but in reality, the number of home runs per year is not where is has been. I think the role of strikeouts in today's game for the pitcher is that they are simply stronger and like the article said, they can all pitch at least 98 mph. This leads to strikeouts being more common in the game where not too long ago, home runs seemed to be a more common occurrence.
ReplyDeleteI think the most surprising fact in the article is that power is generally down in MLB right now: the 5,000 homer mark has only been reached once in the past 6 years after 9 consecutive years of being reached. Although many people in the article postulate that the reason for the increase of the strikeouts is that this is the era of power hitters, there is not a clear correlation between an increase in slugging production and an increase of strikeouts. I think the graph that goes along with this article contains a lot of information that I did not know. I had never thought—prior to reading this article—about how things such as World Wars I and II, expansion of the strike zone, the lowering of the mound, or the addition of a DH would affect the strike zone. It is clear from the graph that these did have a significant effect on strikeouts. I do agree with what Davis said in the article about how—in today's game—it's okay for players to strike out as long as they do it at the right time. Teams today are looking for players who won't just go up there to keep the ball in play but rather to go yard.
ReplyDeleteWhat I thought was really interesting about this article was the fact that the game of baseball has changed so much over the past years, and has even changed since I started watching it when I was little. The article made me realize that the game has become so tailored. There are pitchers meant to open and close, certain players are vital for certain parts of the game and there no longer seems to be "all around players." When I first started little league, the best players were always the pitchers. They could hit, pitch and throw like nobody else, but overtime only one of these attributes seemed to shine. Baseball seems to be that way too. Pitchers are only good at pitching and it seems to me like baseball is in someways losing its sense of what truly makes a great ball player. Something that I didn't know was the rise and decline of home runs. The fact that the decline of home runs was after the steroid testing really makes me think about the authenticity of the game previous to these tests. The role of strikeouts for batters has luckily become more acceptable. Not even the greatest batter can make contact each time at bat. It's difficult and with the advancement of pitchers you have to cut the batters slack since it is getting harder and harder to figure out where the ball will land.
ReplyDeleteI think the coolest hard fact that I learned from the article was that there are over 36,000 strike outs in the major leagues each year. Although it seems like there would be a lot, I never thought it would be a number as high as this. Also, I never really thought about how closers end up being that kind of pitcher. As one of the closers says, he joined the MLB hoping to be a starter but was so good in short amounts of time that he was assigned to be closer. I had always thought that closers always just kind of started in that role. What I think is really interesting about this whole thing is that even though pitchers are getting better and there are more and more strikeouts on average, still not every game is a pitcher's duel. As strikeout rates are increasing runs are still being scored and games are still interesting, which is a good thing for the baseball industry because, although speaking at an extreme, if there are more strikeouts at the same rate and games become extremely defensive heavy, tickets sales will eventually fall and less and less people will be interested (again, speaking at an extreme of course...but I think you get what I'm saying).
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this article I had no idea that strikeout totals had been increasing drastically over the last several years. I find it incredibly interesting that although there is a stigma around the strikeout it hasn’t been hurting teams as much as I would’ve thought. For example the 2012 A’s, who hold the record for most strikeouts in a season in the American league, went 94-68 and got to the playoffs. However, personally I find that this newfound plate aggressiveness could end up turning costly for the game. These increasing rates of strikeouts is driven by the entertainment side of baseball. Homeruns are the main attraction at a ball game and are what fills the stands. Thus, I feel that players are feeling a social pressure to hit for power. Fans today don’t praise players like Tony Gwyn who were pure hitters that always found away to get on base. Instead we are more interested in the Adam Dunns of the world who either strikeout or hit a 425 foot boom into deep center. I feel that these strikeout rates are a costly red flag that we must take into deep consideration.
ReplyDelete-Luc
I think the reason for the spike in strikeouts in recent years is systematic in baseball. During the steroid era home runs spiked and the culture of baseball and the thing that many fans started to come to see went towards home runs. Along with this emphasis on home runs came the concept of sabermetrics which supported the need for power in a lineup and increased the importance of slugging percentage as a stat. So the increase in strikeouts is a biproduct of players who are not juicing trying to put up the same type of power numbers that players during the steroid era hit.
ReplyDelete1. One of the coolest facts that I learned while reading this article was learning that homeruns peaked in the year 2000. And then because of this peak, the league started testing for steroid use 3 years later.
ReplyDelete2. In terms of the A's, I never knew that they did so poorly with their hitting when they played the Detroit Tigers in the divisional series. In the 5-game series the A's struck out 50 times, which is an average of 10 strikeouts per game, which is a lot of strikeouts for a team to have per game. And they also only managed to hit 30 times and hit 3 home runs. Looking back on it, it is unbelievable how the A's managed to make it a 5 game series.
3. The game has changed in the way that the batters try to hit the ball. Rather than being smart about the pitches that the player swings at, they strictly go for straight power and swing away at a lot more pitches to hit the homerun. Teams are literally ignoring the amount that the player strikeouts out but how hard he hits the ball and how much power he puts behind the ball.
I thought the coolest fact that i learned was about how many fewer players struck our 100 times or more 25 years ago, and when the article sites that fact, it fails to mention the fact that in today's MLB there are a few players (at least Reynolds, maybe Dunn) who whiff 200 times in a season (211?). I personally was not aware of the fact that the 2012 A's struck out the most times in the American league, as I thought that would gone against their famous foundation of OBP players. I think strikeouts are still key for the premium pitchers of today's game, not in meaningless spots as the A's hitting coach hits at, but with runners in scoring position, in clutch moments, the ability to fan a batter at a given time is a tremendous asset to have. If you look at the truly outstanding pitchers in the league, Kershaw, Verlander, strasburg, they all throw hard and strike guys out; it's very much so still important.
ReplyDeleteThe coolest fact for me was in the article when it stated from that starting from 1998 there were nine consecutive seasons where there were more then 5000 home runs hit, but in the last six years hitters have only accomplished that once. That makes me think that either the pitchers are getting a lot better at pitching and are throwing much better then they used to, or that steroid drug testing has become much more serious, or that it is a combination of both. I also think it is very interesting that in nowadays game, with all the increases in technology and fitness, it is harder to find powerful hitters.
ReplyDeleteSomething I didn't know was how much of an effect strikeouts had in a game. One part of the article that really interested me was when it talked about the Oakland A's being the leader of strikeouts in the AL. Even though they held the record for the most strikeouts, they were still the winners of the AL west. Obviously strikeouts aren't as important to winning games as I thought they were.
After reading this article I feel like strikeouts in today's game are not as important as they used to be. As it says in the article, the number of walks in the league has constantly been going down and that is because usually pitchers nowadays are being taught to throw it hard over the plate. I also think that people are striking out more because pitchers now are stronger and throw harder stuff than they used to, which would also probably be why it is so hard to find good power hitters. However this piece has also showed me that even though a lot of strikeouts can look really nice, it may not have a big effect on whether a team wins a lot of games. "It just a matter of when players strike out", as said by the A's batting coach, Chili Davis.
In my opinion, the coolest fact in this article was that 18 teams struck out at least 1,200 times in 2012, yet through 2005, the highest number of teams to strike out that many times in a single season was 2. It's interesting to think of how that happens. Is the pitching better? Are the batters getting worse? Or maybe do umpires in the present game have a larger strike zone? The confusion of this new trend really interests me. One thing that I didn't know before reading this article was that Jason Giambi is still an active player. I remember him when he was on the A's and it was surprising hearing that he is still playing. The role of strikeouts today coincides with the re-instated importance of power hitting. Due to the fact that power hitting has been on a downward trend, managers look for players with the ability to really get behind the ball; however, this might detract from being a smart batter because the batter is more likely to swing at pitches that are balls in an attempt to hit them out of the park. This increases the strikeout rate in the majors and is a reason striking out is becoming so common.
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading this and attempting to envision all the buildup for nothing that comes along with a strikeout I feel like novel Roy's strikeouts are a metaphor for his sexual disfunction. This connection is admittedly obvious to me now due to Wonderboy's poignant phallicy, but the experience of all of the power and hope and leadup that dramatically flops with the third failed swing really solidifies this connection for me. I like how the author of this article depicts the affect that players doping had on the next generation of baseball players in how they still try to swing like the stars of their childhood. I think this along with the desire to hit a ball no matter how bad the pitch is, like Roy's similar problem, is causing these increases of strikes. However, I am aware of the counterargument that players have always wanted this which could make this factor unaccountable for the increase.
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