Remember when you were a kid in Little League or softball and how embarrassing it was to strike out? In a game predicated on failing more than 70% of the time, striking out was the worst of the failures–as you couldn’t even make contact to put the ball in play. Well, today’s players have apparently gotten over the fear of failure and the sting of embarrassment that comes with a “K”.
In the month of April there were more strikeouts in Major League Baseball than there were base hits. It’s the first time in the sport’s history that has happened. But I get the feeling it will not be the last–as the way hitting is taught at all levels of baseball now has sold out completely to our old friend, Advanced Analytics.
Gone are the days of teaching a young hitter to concentrate on making contact and putting the ball in play as much as possible. That has been replaced by the two new metrics of hitting: Launch Angle and Exit Velocity. In a nutshell, batters are expected to bring the bat through the hitting zone on a specific angle that will produce the best chance of launching the ball as far as possible. And to create as much speed as possible through the hitting zone. The obsession with these metrics is so great that scoreboards in MLB ballparks are now including that as part of the stat package in games and the networks covering the games provide that info on every swing as well.
The problem with that is not every pitch is in the same spot–or thrown at the same speed. Yet the modern swing still attempts to produce the same speed and lift every time–even if that means missing the ball more often. The expected tradeoff is that when contact is made, homers and deep shots to the gap are more likely–making up for the lack of production in the other at-bats. It’s a little bit like the movement in basketball to attempt the most 3-point shots that you can–because the extra point makes up for the lower shooting percentage.
So that means no more hitters choking up with two strikes, or trying to hit balls to the opposite field to move runners along–even if that means losing an opportunity to score runs through what we old-timers like to call “small ball”. And you may want to stay off social media whenever a manager decides to have a batter bunt to move runners into scoring position because the Analytics Guys are going to go off.
So for all you Little League parents out there forget the advice of “keep your eye on the ball!”. Instead, teach your kids to concentrate on that key 20 to 35-degree launch angle that is most likely to produce home runs–and reaching the MLB-expected minimum of 95 miles an hour exit velocity. Even if they can’t hit a lick, Statcast-obsessed scouts will still be drooling all over them.
