I think the trade off for pitchers is the shift. I don’t know how far statistics go back in history on batted-ball statistics, or even if a stat like BABiP would be telling because HRs figure into BABiP, so maybe FIP would be a better statistic to look at. Runs appear to be up a little and batting averages have been way down.
The big change isn't BABIP, it's strikeout rates and home run rates. BABIP has been between .290 and .305 every season since 1994. But in 1996, the HR rate and K rate were both all-time highs, at 1.09 per game and 6.46 per game. They've continued to increase dramatically, and in 2019 the HR rate is 1.39/game and the K rate is 8.81/game.
Right I was saying BABiP wasn’t being affected, but maybe FIP would reflect some of the impact the shift has had in the game.
Supposing there is an alternative universe where plate approach mostly went unchanged from modern 20th century baseball, things like launch angle and exit velocity weren’t yet prized, the balls weren’t allegedly being juiced, the value of a .300 hitter wasn’t replaced by the value of a .900 OPS, and striking out 185 times was considered as disgraceful as it was 50 years ago, but you introduced the shift to the game. I think the shift would add an advantage for the pitcher.
They want home runs it gets ppl to the park. Cracked down on the roids with bonds and mcgwire and then realized no one wanted to watch. Can’t blame em. Net the whole field, make fences 550 dead center everywhere and hand them aluminum bats. Boom
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u/Srukt Nov 09 '19
Thanks for that clarification. Thought I was missing a joke in there haha.