Leveling Up: What I learned at the Sabermetrics, Scouting and the Science of Baseball Seminar

[Jnai]

He meant that there was a focus as players were developing on "velocity" rather than "pitching", which he thought was detrimental to their development and health.
 
Not that he doesn't use it as an indicator.

 

[Darnell's Son]

Harry, I assume he's referring to pitchers(especially young ones) trying to get their velocities up at the detriment of their command and movement. Monitoring Taz's velocity just shows that his arm isn't getting tired.
'
Edit: Or what Mr. GIP said.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Reverend]

Rev: how did you come to this conclusion? The few others doesn't include the Cubs, Astros or Yankees, right? Are you just thinking of GMs, or was there a vibe at the conference that a few teams don't and won't get it?

 
I may be tripped up in the negatives and which are which of the others, so I'm not quite sure what you're asking.
 
Basically, there were a huge number of people who have an in-depth knowledge of the workings of the organizations well beyond my own; I personally have no idea how people manage to follow so many teams, even when it's their job. The result, though, is that you pick up a vague sense of how some of the teams are perceived, as with the joking about the Phillies that has been referenced.
 
As far as teams that are ahead of the curve in terms of thinking about how to better understand the game and develop value--this is where we need to think beyond stats or even analytics to the overall science of developing good players and generating wins--the names most often tossed around are the Red Sox, Tampa Bay, Houston, and I think the Cubbies and Pittsburgh.
 
It's pretty gratifying that even in a losing season, there is reason to have faith in the organization. Cherington was straight up pixie-ish and had a gleam in his eye his entire presentation. There was very much a vibe that even though they're not doing well this year, they know what they're doing and it will be ok. the flip side of this is that some teams who don't have their act together are going to get left behind for awhile anyway because they don't even know some of the ways to pick up or prevent runs, so they're competing with a disadvantage.