The Game Has Changed and Not For the Better

ok here’s my luis castillo trade offer:

pepiot

grove

carson taylor

probably needs a better secondary prospect but i made up for it by including a wild card as the third

Probably the single biggest thing I miss about baseball as it used to be during my youth [basically, 1980s] is the starting pitchers going deep into games, complete games, and concept of a game being based around the match-up between the starting pitchers. I remember looking forward to a three-game series and trying to figure out what the rotation battles would be. Now, as we have seen, this really accounts for very little (I realize this opinion will be jumped on but oh well). Yes, it’s nice to have a good arm on the mound but what does it matter if you’re just going to bring in a reliever in the 6th when your guy either gasses out, hits a high pitch count number (100 is basically the reddest of red flags these days) or gets into a jam that the manager decides a different arm would be better to help get out of?

Baseball is almost certainly worse as a product than it used to be. As a Dodger fan, I have become spoiled by these All-Star lineups we put out; but the results haven’t quite matched the hype. Too many disappointments and too many micro-managerial decisions. Let ’em play.

Excellent rant, Jeff. Totally agree.

Since players can’t seem to adjust or simply won’t bunt during the extreme shifts, it’s time for the shifts to go. Shifts are changing the game in a very unfortunate way. Someone drills a line drive into right or right center, caught by the rover. Ridiculous. Baseball needs more action, not less.

Yes, the game has definitely changed. Money is one problem. Cost to go to a game another. Lack of action definitely a problem. . Not just stolen bases, but being able to go first to third. Too much focus on power, not enough on putting the ball in play. Look how much excitement Maury Wills created back in the day.

It’s easy to see analytics has messed up the game and the fact that most starters leave the game after five or maybe six innings is a problem. Maybe they fear the pitcher with the massive contract getting hurt, but isn’t that why you gave him the big contract in the first place? Go deep into games, save the bullpen.

Walks are fine, but the problem with that is converting them into runs. Remember when Max Muncy was walking all the time early in the season, letting good pitches to hit go past? The Dodgers needed Muncy to swing the bat, which he finally did and run production went up.

One of the things you appreciate about Trea Turner, not only does he hit for power, but he steals bases, even scores from first on a hit into the gap. A slow grounder can become a hit. That’s exciting. Even “the slide” was one of the highlights of the season.

That’s why the Dodgers need to keep Turner. Batting champ, stolen base leader, all the speed and some power too.

Mookie Betts is certainly an exciting player for many of the same reasons. Add Chris Taylor into that mix, the only drawback the high number of swing and miss at bats.

No question the game needs to change. Probably one of the most exciting games I’ve been too had a home run, a couple of triples, a few doubles, a sac fly and a close play at the plate, a double steal and a squeeze play, all packed into one game.

If I were running baseball, the DH would be added into the NL, the shift would be over with two players on each side of second, every team would get one day off a week, Monday or Thursday, to help with the grind of a long season. If you want a team to play a Sunday night game, they get Monday off.

I’m really tired of the massive contracts. They seldom work out. I’ve heard that the increasing size of contracts has no impact of fans, listened to numerous people make that argument on MLB radio. Nonsense. If payrolls and high player costs don’t impact the pocketbooks of fans, then why raise ticket prices every year? Not to mention parking, food, drink and merchandise.

I get it. The union wants to push contracts higher. So do agents. But honestly how much money do you need? The NFL and NBA already price out families. Will baseball soon follow. Kids and families are what makes baseball better. You can actually afford to take your family to a game. How much longer will that be true? That will be a loss that baseball might not recover from. Anybody think that comes up in CBA negotiations?

Just the other day we talked about the old days versus current times, access to players and all. How it was better back in the day. No question MLB understood that and teams made more of an effort to create better access. Will they understand the cost issue?

Yes, AJ Pollock is a fun player. Always liked or should I say hated seeing him play for the DBacks back in the day. I loved the signing, hated by many. Hey, I also thought signing Trevor Bauer was a good idea too. So I’m one for two.

The Arizona Fall League implement the following rules this year:

1. 15 – second pitch clock

2. Automatic Ball Strike System (using the Hawkeye System)

3. Pitchcom Communications (between pitcher, catcher, and defenders)

4. Limit of 2 pickoffs per PA

5. Defense Positioning (infielders required to stay on dirt with two on each side of 2B)

6. Base size is increased from 15″ to 18″

I have no problems with any of that. It would add more scoring… I think!

Question forJeff;

Interesting comparison between 2000 and now. But to what extent has the movement to shorter outings by pitchers (and not seeing a lineup a third time) as well as increasing use of relievers within a given game lowered the numbers you cite? and along those lines to what extent has the trends in pitcher use necessitated the need for home runs ( as it’s hard to string hits together). Not disagreeing with you, hitting definitely is on a downswing but is the current trend a response ( and not necessarily a good one) to pitcher usage?

I agree with much of this as always AC. Very nice job breaking this down. The following really stood out to me…

I will never be convinced that RVS can adequately coach a TEAM on hitting, but I also concede that he will not be terminated as he does “coach” what the LAD Front Office espouses. MT listed a slew of metrics showcasing his position that RVS is the right choice. My response was that those metrics measured the talent far more than the coaching.

I feel this same statement can be applied to Doc. He’s not a good manager, but the talent on the team makes up for his shortcomings and he implements the script that’s provided by the front office, so he’ll keep his job.

The thing that frustrates me the most is that he’ll ignore the hot hand in favor of past performance which is basically the problem with statistic driven decision making. By the time you have a large enough sample size to adjust your strategy based on statistics, it’s often too late to react. You can look at the shift and stolen bases to back up this argument. Like AC said, with catchers concentrating on stealing calls from the umpire, they have gotten into some pretty bad habits like dropping that knee to get a low strike. Starling Marte, out of nowhere stole 47 bases and was only caught 5 times. He made an adjustment without waiting for statistics to tell him it would be beneficial. The shift is driving me absolutely crazy. It seems like the Dodgers give up shift hits constantly, but never seem to get them.

I’m often hard on three true outcome players. I haven’t been a huge Muncy fan because of this, although he did cut down on his strikeouts this past year and seemed better for it for a while. But, a prolonged slump put his numbers back on track with his 2019 season.

I felt that AJ Pollock was one of the more interesting hitters on the team this year. Both ended up with about the same OPS, but they got there in different ways. It just felt like AJ was more exciting because he put the bat on the ball more often. Sure, Max’s big blasts were fun to watch, but it seemed like AJ was keeping the inning going more often.

I don’t know if my love for the game has changed as a result of the changes in the game. I watch baseball more than any other sport. But, I prefer seeing more baserunners and more action on the field. I miss contact on plays at the plate and runners breaking up double plays and I hate how replay has changed swipe tags on stolen bases and neighborhood plays on double plays. I fear that the automated strike zone will ultimately change the game for the worse. I respect the law of unintended consequences and think a system like that really needs time to bake in the minors or Independent leagues before we screw up the major league game with hasty decisions. But, I would absolutely love to see them implement some kind of extreme shift rule. Three infielders on the dirt at all times and 2 on each side of second base would do it for me.

They need to fix the part where the best team doesn’t always win.

“ We are now having theoreticians in charge and not baseball people”. To echo your complaint about the game; theory like mist on eyeglasses obscure vision.

Outstanding column.

Another excellent post by Jeff. Very persuasive and thorough, but I still want RVS gone.

Excellent vent this morning Jeff. Those dollar figures per inning and per hit are just unimaginable. Appreciate your writing sir.

The problem with BA and OB% is not just with the Dodgers… all teams are experiencing it. I think the causes are:

1. Analytics provides better positioning of fielders and pitchers have more information on where to throw the ball to hitters (if they can hit that spot); and

2. Stacking 3 or 4 players on one side of the field also contributes.

I think MLB will ban the shift this winter.

Of course, some will say, “just hit it the other way.” Yeah, if you are LH, lets see you hit an inside slider to LF!