Amazing year of baseball?

[dashcol]

What we are seeing this year is amazing in terms of some of the huge feats that are happening, and it seems like baseball has just shifted away from caring!

Pujols is encroaching on 700 home runs. This is isane no matter how long he played. If a player plays twenty years, then this means they have hit 35 home runs EVERY YEAR during that entire span. Think about that...35 home runs every year. The average for the league every year tends to hover between 20-25, so for a player to get to 700 they need to hit at least ten above the league average every year, and stay healthy enough to play for over twenty years.

Judge has the potential to hit 62 homeruns this year. To hit 62 homeruns in a year a homerun has to be hit every 2.6 games. So in more than 1/3 of your games (assuming you play all 162) you need to hit a homerun. Arguably the hardest thing in all of professional sports to do, and you need to do more than every third game. The only players to have ever done this have required drugs to be able to do it. Judge is doing it clean. This one, people at least are caring about, and we get cuts to Judges at bats, and everyone talks about it. That is good.

Miguel Cabrera hit his 3,000 hit on April 23 this year. There was a brief celebration, then no one cared any more. The league average for hits every year is between 130-140 hits. Using league average, you would need to play over 21 seasons and hit league average every year. This is so hard to do, only 33 players have ever done it, and two of them are still playing!

To add into this, Cabrera just joined the 500 home run club the end of last year. That makes him one seven players in history to do both.

Maybe Goldy has slipped down the rankings and it looks like the triple crown is no longer a possibility, but for a long time Paul Goldschmidt looked like he had a chance at it. Even though he may not be able to get it, he is still #2 in AVG at .322, tied for third in HR at 35, and in second for RBI at 112. These are still amazing stats. Since 1920, the triple crown has been accomplished 12 times by ten players.

What amazes me is that so many people consider this a horrible season! When did we stop losing the majesty in baseball? Baseball has always been about the stats, and always will be, but in the stratcast era, it seems like everyone yawns at the momentous occassion that are happening right before our eyes, that may never happen again in our lifetimes, or in Pujols' case, may never happen again...ever.

And this is only the batting side of it, this is not counting anything that is happening on the pitching side of things.

Why? With so many historic events happening this year why are so many people saying this year is horrible?

[ottobord]

Blame WAR, exit velocity etc. Stats used to be cool now they're nerdy.

[speedyjg13]

Originally Posted by ottobord

Blame WAR, exit velocity etc. Stats used to be cool now they're nerdy.

Are you suggesting a return to only AVG, HR and RBI matter? Only Win/Loss/ERA matter?

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by ottobord

Blame WAR, exit velocity etc. Stats used to be cool now they're nerdy.

This is exactly what I think it is now. Caring about exit velocity is ridiculous to me. There is more talent in being able to know how to place a ball right where you want it in the gap.

Having a 124mph exit velocity means nothing when it is straight into the glove of 2B. Sure, 2B hand may hurt for a while, but he still records the out and the speed of the ball meant nothing.

[majestik101]

No mention of Ohtani and what he's doing historically. Interesting.

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by speedyjg13

Are you suggesting a return to only AVG, HR and RBI matter? Only Win/Loss/ERA matter?

I don't want to speak for otto, but I would not want to return to that. I think there should be a use to both.

I am an old school baseball fan, but I can still be amazed at a 10 WAR season. That is an accompishment on par with the ones I described above. Just because the sport finds a new way to measure things, does not mean the old ways mean nothing.

You cannot win baseball games without getting on base, which most of the time means recording a hit. You can't score, normally, without the players behind you also recording a hit. To do that 3,000 times is a momentous feat that baseball seems to not care about.

[erock28]

As a lifelong baseball junkie, I don't consider it horrible. For casual fans/younger generations, the reasons I would consider....

- Hitting is down. People like offense, and so many players these days are three outcome guys. Only 12 qualified hitters over .300, which is insane. Hell, the Brewers leading hitter for average is Yelich - at .262. That's sad.

- Constant rule changes coming from a trash commissioner

- The labor stoppage, though resolved, turned a lot of fans off

- The young mega stars from this time last year have all taken a step backwards. The youth movement was supposed to bring in new fans and add excitement to the game. Instead, Soto is hitting .235 with average power, Acuna suddenly lost his pop, Vlad is having a respectable year but poor compared to his breakout 2021, and Tatis Jr needs no explanation

- The gap between the haves and have nots has widened even more this year. I don't know anyone outside of die hard Dodgers fans who doesn't absolutely HATE that team. If you're a fan of either a lower end or even middle of the road team its sick to see their roster. In 2018 when the Brewers faced the Dodgers in the NLCS I thought outside of starting pitching the teams were very equal, and it went 7 games. This year if the two teams squared off I don't think it would go more than 5.

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by majestik101

No mention of Ohtani and what he's doing historically. Interesting.

I did say that I did not include pitching into this. What Ohtani is doing as a batter is good, but not historical. It is his combination of pitching with it that makes it historic, and I specifically said I did not include any pitching in my discussion.

But, yes, what Ohtani is doing is historic. It is also something that will likely never be seen again, and amazingly, as long as he makes it to 2028 in the league, Ohtani has already solidified his place in the HOF after his fourth season. That in itself is probably the most crazy thing I have ever seen in baseball.

Do not read into me not writting about the pitchers. I only really talked about the hit and HR topics because that is a side project of my PC that got me thinking.

[JustinVerlander07]

Originally Posted by dashcol

This is exactly what I think it is now. Caring about exit velocity is ridiculous to me. There is more talent in being able to know how to place a ball right where you want it in the gap.

Having a 124mph exit velocity means nothing when it is straight into the glove of 2B. Sure, 2B hand may hurt for a while, but he still records the out and the speed of the ball meant nothing.

This is the problem with Baseball, people like you who don't want anything to ever change. The concept of exit velocity is pretty simple: good hitters have high exit velocity (generally), bad hitters don't (generally). The harder you hit the ball the more likely you are to get a hit. Why you'd be afraid of that is bizarre other than I can only assume you're in your 40s and up and want everyone to get off your lawn.

[k13]

They cry because all their young player investments are doing nothing special and prices tanking.

They thought acuna/soto/vladdy/etc. were "safe".

[k13]

The harder you throw a football the more touchdowns you'll get too...lol

[k13]

Baseball was good in the early 90s and the steroid era.
That's about it.

[hxcmilkshake]

Who thinks its a bad season? Those holding Wander/Soto/etc?

Sorry for them, but most of the baseball fan world exists outside of BO

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[Zauron]

Originally Posted by erock28

As a lifelong baseball junkie, I don't consider it horrible. For casual fans/younger generations, the reasons I would consider....

- Hitting is down. People like offense, and so many players these days are three outcome guys. Only 12 qualified hitters over .300, which is insane. Hell, the Brewers leading hitter for average is Yelich - at .262. That's sad.

- Constant rule changes coming from a trash commissioner

- The labor stoppage, though resolved, turned a lot of fans off

- The young mega stars from this time last year have all taken a step backwards. The youth movement was supposed to bring in new fans and add excitement to the game. Instead, Soto is hitting .235 with average power, Acuna suddenly lost his pop, Vlad is having a respectable year but poor compared to his breakout 2021, and Tatis Jr needs no explanation

- The gap between the haves and have nots has widened even more this year. I don't know anyone outside of die hard Dodgers fans who doesn't absolutely HATE that team. If you're a fan of either a lower end or even middle of the road team its sick to see their roster. In 2018 when the Brewers faced the Dodgers in the NLCS I thought outside of starting pitching the teams were very equal, and it went 7 games. This year if the two teams squared off I don't think it would go more than 5.

Hitting has dipped tremendously this season and this year a guy posting .250 average and slugging .450 is considered great.

5 guys with an OPS over .900 this season.

2021 had 14, 2019 had 29, and 2018 had 11. 2017 had 23. 2016 17.

Fact of the matter, better offensive games is more enjoyable, and this is partially true for most sports.

A 6-4 baseball game is more enjoyable for casual fans than 3-1, just like in football fans will enjoy 28-24 games more than 13-10.

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by JustinVerlander07

This is the problem with Baseball, people like you who don't want anything to ever change. The concept of exit velocity is pretty simple: good hitters have high exit velocity (generally), bad hitters don't (generally). The harder you hit the ball the more likely you are to get a hit. Why you'd be afraid of that is bizarre other than I can only assume you're in your 40s and up and want everyone to get off your lawn.

Did you read everything I wrote? See below...

It's interseing that you think 40 is now the age that people become old and stuck in their ways yelling at the sky...

At least you did put the generallys in there, so you acknowledge that there are exceptions. What there isnt exception to is a player who hits 500 homeruns is NEVER a bad player, maybe helped with PEDS, but even the players who were helped by PEDS were great players made better. There is no player who has hit 3000 hits who is/was not a great player.

O'Neil Cruz is not a great player because he holds the record of a 122.4 mph exit velocity. All that shows is potential; his 16 HR, .217 BA, or his .717 OPS, tells way more about his abilities that exit velocity.

Or if you want, you can take the same player with the record holding exit velocity and look at some advanced stats...1.5 WAR, 97 OPS+, 0.6dWAR or his Rbat of -3. Don't assume that just because I hold the 3000 hit club or 500 HR club in high regard or that I do not care about exit velocity as that I do not also use advanced stats...maybe I just understand how to use both of them together to get a full picture.

Originally Posted by dashcol

I don't want to speak for otto, but I would not want to return to that. I think there should be a use to both.

I am an old school baseball fan, but I can still be amazed at a 10 WAR season. That is an accompishment on par with the ones I described above. Just because the sport finds a new way to measure things, does not mean the old ways mean nothing.

You cannot win baseball games without getting on base, which most of the time means recording a hit. You can't score, normally, without the players behind you also recording a hit. To do that 3,000 times is a momentous feat that baseball seems to not care about.

Originally Posted by k13

They cry because all their young player investments are doing nothing special and prices tanking.

They thought acuna/soto/vladdy/etc. were "safe".

So you are saying it is just investors who are crying bad season? I have had conversations at work with people who insist this is a down year with nothing big to be excited about who have never collected.

Originally Posted by k13

The harder you throw a football the more touchdowns you'll get too...lol

That's gotta be true!

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by hxcmilkshake

Who thinks its a bad season? Those holding Wander/Soto/etc?

Sorry for them, but most of the baseball fan world exists outside of BO

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

I've had conversations at work that people are insisting this year has been boring.

Admittedly, it is usually the casual fans who when you mention Goldy or Cabrera, they just shrug their shoulders.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by JustinVerlander07

This is the problem with Baseball, people like you who don't want anything to ever change. The concept of exit velocity is pretty simple: good hitters have high exit velocity (generally), bad hitters don't (generally). The harder you hit the ball the more likely you are to get a hit. Why you'd be afraid of that is bizarre other than I can only assume you're in your 40s and up and want everyone to get off your lawn.

I think this is what baseball people don't like. The harder a ball is hit, the higher chance in a base hit is only true if you are blindly hitting, swinging wlidly without any idea where it is going. The exit velocity crowd therfore preach that style of hitting. But it's not true for a hitter who is skilled with a bat and can put the ball where they are trying. It's a classic example of misunderstanding statistics. Stats show on average a harder hit ball has a better chance of being a hit. But that's because it includes both good and bad hitters. Some balls have an 85mph exit velocity because the hitter is bad and can't square up the ball. But some balls hit 85 are from Tony Gwynn or Ichiro slapping it intentionally over the head of the infielder. And players with thise skills are rare. So their stats get swallowed up in exit velocity stats of lesser players. Consequently, instead of teaching hitters to be skillful, we teach them to swing hard, which actually compounds the issue. Now the truly skilled hitter is even more rare and the game is filled with people who swing hard, and the best of them are now considered the skilled hitters.

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[hermanotarjeta]

Great year, but the least hype since 1994.

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

I think this is what baseball people don't like. The harder a ball is hit, the higher chance in a base hit is only true if you are blindly hitting, swinging wlidly without any idea where it is going. The exit velocity crowd therfore preach that style of hitting. But it's not true for a hitter who is skilled with a bat and can put the ball where they are trying. It's a classic example of misunderstanding statistics. Stats show on average a harder hit ball has a better chance of being a hit. But that's because it includes both good and bad hitters. Some balls have an 85mph exit velocity because the hitter is bad and can't square up the ball. But some balls hit 85 are from Tony Gwynn or Ichiro slapping it intentionally over the head of the infielder. And players with thise skills are rare. So their stats get swallowed up in exit velocity stats of lesser players. Consequently, instead of teaching hitters to be skillful, we teach them to swing hard, which actually compounds the issue. Now the truly skilled hitter is even more rare and the game is filled with people who swing hard, and the best of them are now considered the skilled hitters.

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PREACH IT!!!



This is exactly why we need baseball fans who understand the old methods of how we track who is good, that also understand the new methods. A serious fan needs to be able to take both sets of data and apply them.

The high BA, high SLG, high OPS, high WAR, high hits and high HR are the whys of baseball.

exit velocity, Hard hit%, Pull%, Cent%, Oppo%, GB/FB is the hows.

All are important when used properly.

[Boo]

Originally Posted by majestik101

No mention of Ohtani and what he's doing historically. Interesting.

You Ohtani boys are a bunch of babies.

[speedyjg13]

Originally Posted by dashcol

PREACH IT!!!



This is exactly why we need baseball fans who understand the old methods of how we track who is good, that also understand the new methods. A serious fan needs to be able to take both sets of data and apply them.

The high BA, high SLG, high OPS, high WAR, high hits and high HR are the whys of baseball.

exit velocity, Hard hit%, Pull%, Cent%, Oppo%, GB/FB is the hows.

All are important when used properly.

Re-read this.

The whys and the hows.

Well said OP

[wood minis]

As an Orioles fan, I've been enjoying this season. they are ahead of schedule and a possible season above .500 after years of playing unwatchable baseball. there was even a long stretch there where it looked like they would contend for the wildcard.

At the beginning of the year I didn't think there was any way that Pujols gets to 700. Now he's knocking on the door. I have to wonder where he would be if he didn't take the money and stayed in St. Louis this last decade. Might be knocking on Barry Bonds door.

and Judge pursuing Maris is another good story, but I'm rooting for him to hit 60 and stall out. I'm a big fan of the under appreciated Roger Maris.

Every season has exciting games and story lines. I loved when Montgomery was traded to St. Louis by the Yankees and proceeds to pitch a 1-0 complete game shut out. That 1 run courtesy of a Pujols bomb.

And how about the game when the O's were ahead in the 9th against the Astros in Houston and Trey Mancini came to bat with two outs as the go ahead run. Imagine being in that spot. A lifetime Oriole coming to bat with a chance to set his old team back in their postseason chase. Maybe he didn't feel too bad about that strike out.

Post season should be awesome. Dodgers are great but they may have to face deGrom and Scherzer. And the youth movement has taken a step back, but is anyone going to be surprised if Soto or Acuna, Jr. find their way in a short series when it matters?

[k13]

Originally Posted by dashcol

I've had conversations at work that people are insisting this year has been boring.

Admittedly, it is usually the casual fans who when you mention Goldy or Cabrera, they just shrug their shoulders.

Baseball is just boring to begin with...

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by speedyjg13

Re-read this.

The whys and the hows.

Well said OP

Do you not agree with the whys and hows?

The hows also can include ISO, P/PA etc.

Originally Posted by wood minis

As an Orioles fan, I've been enjoying this season. they are ahead of schedule and a possible season above .500 after years of playing unwatchable baseball. there was even a long stretch there where it looked like they would contend for the wildcard.

At the beginning of the year I didn't think there was any way that Pujols gets to 700. Now he's knocking on the door. I have to wonder where he would be if he didn't take the money and stayed in St. Louis this last decade. Might be knocking on Barry Bonds door.

and Judge pursuing Maris is another good story, but I'm rooting for him to hit 60 and stall out. I'm a big fan of the under appreciated Roger Maris.

Every season has exciting games and story lines. I loved when Montgomery was traded to St. Louis by the Yankees and proceeds to pitch a 1-0 complete game shut out. That 1 run courtesy of a Pujols bomb.

And how about the game when the O's were ahead in the 9th against the Astros in Houston and Trey Mancini came to bat with two outs as the go ahead run. Imagine being in that spot. A lifetime Oriole coming to bat with a chance to set his old team back in their postseason chase. Maybe he didn't feel too bad about that strike out.

Post season should be awesome. Dodgers are great but they may have to face deGrom and Scherzer. And the youth movement has taken a step back, but is anyone going to be surprised if Soto or Acuna, Jr. find their way in a short series when it matters?

As an O's fan, you should be loving this year! I don't know if anyone could have ever expected the O's of 2022.

[DetroitTN]

Originally Posted by ottobord

Blame WAR, exit velocity etc. Stats used to be cool now they're nerdy.

This. Absolutely this. When the analytics crew got their manicured hands on baseball, it became math instead of sports. Ben Zobrist got a huge contract because he has non traditional stats that computer people liked. He's just one example. Not many players steal many bases. Pitchers throw their arms out all the time in spite of having "the best" training. Old school pitchers would throw 25-30 complete games a year, yet rarely had arm issues (perhaps study what used to work for players?). It's becoming an advertisement for Tommy John surgeons rather than actual baseball. Players make sickening amounts of money and tickets are a reflection of that. There are dud teams that merely exist, with the owners just participating in country clubs parties to say they own a baseball team. It seems like many players have become soft. These are some reasons in general.


Ohtani, not caring anything about the Angels myself, is having another bizarre year. It's amazing. Cabrera made history again. Soto was involved in a major high profile trade. Tatis got suspended for juicing. Verlander came back from surgery to dominate at an older age. Young stars by the truckload are making themselves known. Larussa is botching games. Judge can break the AL home run record, being on the record holder's team. Wander Franco brought a Griffey-esque excitement back to card collecting before the season began. Pujols is still player and making history. SOME people care about traditional baseball card stats instead of analytics. Rule changes are approaching. There are many interesting things going on as well

I'm not aware of many folks saying it's a horrible season, but if they are, they could probably say the same thing about any season since the first horsehide ball was thrown in the 1800s. Personally, a pitcher should be throwing a near perfect game every time if they're making a million dollars per start. I try to ignore that aspect, analytics, and most negative aspects overall and remember why I like baseball in the first place