https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31454952/how-k-became-most-destructive-letter-major-league-baseball
It is indeed breathtaking to watch the mastery of our pitchers, the preposterous stuff we see from our stars, such as Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole and Shane Bieber, and from those relievers who come in firing every night. But the pitching now is too good, and the strikeout craze has become an epidemic that dominates too many games.
This is so fitting of this season: Days after the Phillies became the first team since 1996 to score two runs on a strikeout, the Orioles' John Means became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter without a walk, hit batter or error. The only baserunner came on a strikeout/wild pitch.
"It's unbelievable," Astros manager Dusty Baker said. "I've talked to Theo [Epstein, who is a consultant for Major League Baseball regarding on-field issues] about it. I've talked to other managers about it. I watched a game the other night, the first three innings, the ball wasn't put in play by either team. Everyone struck out. I've never seen that."
"It's embarrassing," said Reggie Jackson, who struck out more times than anyone in history.
"It's worrisome," said Nolan Ryan, who struck out more batters than any pitcher in history.
"It's alarming," Diamondbacks catcher Stephen Vogt said. "It's weird."
"It's wild," said Jason Ochart, the director of hitting at Driveline and minor league hitting instructor for the Phillies.
"It's crazy," said Scott Bradley, the baseball coach at Princeton who is a former major league catcher. "And it's not just in the big leagues. I saw some minor league statistics and some team in low-A ball struck out like 70 times in a three-game series. It's mind-boggling."
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So my questions are:
(1) What came first: the launch angle revolution or the dominant pitching? In other words, we see a gazillion strikeouts, but is that because pitchers' stuff is too good and since it's so good hitters may as well just swing for the fences? Or are the strikeouts because hitters simply won't try to put the ball in play like they used to and not worry so much about homers? That is, if they just swung to make contact, knowing that good contact will still result in homers (especially when they make good contact on a 99 mph pitch), albeit not as many, would that reduce the number of strikeouts?
(2) Is the strikeout really ruining baseball? It's certainly a *different* game, that's for sure. I mean it wasn't that long ago that dominant strikeout pitchers like Clemens and Gooden didn't even average 9 k/9. For their careers, Clemens averaged 8.6 k/9 and Gooden averaged 7.4. Now, if you average 8.6 or 7.4 k/9, you're not even close to a good strikeout pitcher. Bieber is striking out 13.9 batters per nine. Scherzer 11.9. Cole 13.3. Kershaw is at 10.1.
Talk to me, SOSH.
It is indeed breathtaking to watch the mastery of our pitchers, the preposterous stuff we see from our stars, such as Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole and Shane Bieber, and from those relievers who come in firing every night. But the pitching now is too good, and the strikeout craze has become an epidemic that dominates too many games.
This is so fitting of this season: Days after the Phillies became the first team since 1996 to score two runs on a strikeout, the Orioles' John Means became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter without a walk, hit batter or error. The only baserunner came on a strikeout/wild pitch.
"It's unbelievable," Astros manager Dusty Baker said. "I've talked to Theo [Epstein, who is a consultant for Major League Baseball regarding on-field issues] about it. I've talked to other managers about it. I watched a game the other night, the first three innings, the ball wasn't put in play by either team. Everyone struck out. I've never seen that."
"It's embarrassing," said Reggie Jackson, who struck out more times than anyone in history.
"It's worrisome," said Nolan Ryan, who struck out more batters than any pitcher in history.
"It's alarming," Diamondbacks catcher Stephen Vogt said. "It's weird."
"It's wild," said Jason Ochart, the director of hitting at Driveline and minor league hitting instructor for the Phillies.
"It's crazy," said Scott Bradley, the baseball coach at Princeton who is a former major league catcher. "And it's not just in the big leagues. I saw some minor league statistics and some team in low-A ball struck out like 70 times in a three-game series. It's mind-boggling."
- - -
So my questions are:
(1) What came first: the launch angle revolution or the dominant pitching? In other words, we see a gazillion strikeouts, but is that because pitchers' stuff is too good and since it's so good hitters may as well just swing for the fences? Or are the strikeouts because hitters simply won't try to put the ball in play like they used to and not worry so much about homers? That is, if they just swung to make contact, knowing that good contact will still result in homers (especially when they make good contact on a 99 mph pitch), albeit not as many, would that reduce the number of strikeouts?
(2) Is the strikeout really ruining baseball? It's certainly a *different* game, that's for sure. I mean it wasn't that long ago that dominant strikeout pitchers like Clemens and Gooden didn't even average 9 k/9. For their careers, Clemens averaged 8.6 k/9 and Gooden averaged 7.4. Now, if you average 8.6 or 7.4 k/9, you're not even close to a good strikeout pitcher. Bieber is striking out 13.9 batters per nine. Scherzer 11.9. Cole 13.3. Kershaw is at 10.1.
Talk to me, SOSH.