Post by kj50tx on Jan 29, 2019 11:17:47 GMT -6
I, for the sake of condensing my thoughts on the subject, am going to lump both High School and College Baseball into one category and Professional Baseball into another. I know that the high school game and the college game are different but the basics of game play are much closer to each other than the way the professional game is played today. D1 College Programs still have drastic budget restrictions and are limited on what they can and can't do. They have much better scouting and analytics than lower divisions and high schools.
Money - Let me start by saying that while I am not necessarily speaking about player's salaries, I am including them as part of the whole. There is such a disparity between the 2 entities in the amount of money that is spent on advanced scouting and analytics that it makes it almost non-existent in the amateur game. Not to say that it is actually non-existent...but in comparison...well you get the idea. The advanced scouting and analytical departments work together to develop game plans for all probabilities that can or will occur during just 1 game and is a luxury that most schools don't have(We can't go as deep or as thorough). If they do, it is nowhere near the scale of the professional model. By using all of the data that is mined, they have created a game that is played based on probability. At the scholastic level, we use probability in so much as, our players understand that in most cases, pitch location and type, determine trajectory, direction and speed of batted balls. For instance, RH batter - Pitcher throws something soft down and away - ground ball to the left side will most likely be rolled over on and the ball will be hit shorter and softer - 3rd knows that he will need to be ready pre-pitch to come hard and to his left to make a play on the most probable ball hit to him. This pre-pitch cue gives him the ability to look instinctive. Pitcher's have charts that they study and the game is called based on these charts and hitter tendencies. At the professional level, every batter is completely broken down into strengths and weaknesses and pitched accordingly. We obviously don't see the massive shifts at the scholastic level because we don't have as much data on every hitter as do the pro's. I wish I had an analytical dept and massive database on every hitter we see. Don't get me wrong, we go scout as often as we can and keep very detailed books on our familiar opponents but it isn't the same. Money and scale are the biggest differences.
When the debate comes up about the banning or reshaping of the shift in professional baseball, it makes me laugh. Seriously, if you want to beat the shift it isn't all that hard. Hit the ball the other way, handle the bat. This is another area where money comes into play. These guys don't get payed to spray the ball through the hole. They get paid when they hit bombs. I cringed when I heard Josh Donaldson speak on MLB Tonight and told young kids "If your coach tells you to hit the ball on the ground, tell him no!!!" His philosophy was, "I don't get paid to hit ground balls." You have to know who you were talking to though. A kid that is 5'6 and weighs 135 lbs has no business trying to lift balls...not if he wants to play at the high school level. The launch angle craze has been a huge hurdle for high school coaches across the country to overcome. Looping back, if hitters who are shifted on would show that they are willing to take what the defense is giving them, that in itself would eliminate the drastic shifting that is occurring. Their focus on the statline is the reason the K is at an all time high. Once again, money and scale are the biggest differences.
The K...Just In Time posted a thread on this topic a few weeks back. I understand the value of the K differs from level to level...but I am here to tell you that it is much more intolerable at the scholastic level than at the professional level. I can't afford for my hitters to not be productive in their at bats. I teach our kids to play the game that is in front of them. We have to win this one...it is the one that matters. I know that this sounds very simplistic, but I feel as though the professional game sometimes gets so focused on the long game that it loses sight of playing the game that they are playing right now. Contact is more important in the lower levels because the error is more prevalent. The bunt or steal or hit & run has all but vanished from many clubhouses. This is because the advanced statistical data tells them that over the course of 162 game season that they would score more runs if they didn't take chances with their outs. We don't have that luxury. Our lineups are not filled with the athletes that theirs are. We have to manufacture...we have to take chances. Our kids are taught to be selfless and to follow - "I will do my part - I will do my job - I will not let my brother down!!!" We teach our kids that they don't all have the same job...I have some kids that are very accomplished hitters, they know that their job is to drive in runs. I have some kids who know that their job is to move a runner...whatever it takes. I have some that are very inconsistent with the stick but their job is to see as many pitches as they can...dig in and be a pest...find a way to do something positive. Every role on our team is vital to the success of the team. I preach this to them daily...You may not like your role but your brother is counting on you to do it to the best of your ability...don't let him down. Again, money and scale are the main differences
A few years back, in the regional finals, we played a team that was more talented than we were. In the final game, we ran the suicide squeeze 5 times and score 6 runs as a result of the chance we took. I will never forget the coach asking me, like I was committing a sin by bunting, "Is that all ya'll can do?" My response was..."Until you show that you can beat us or stop us, it is all that we are going to do!!!" Needless to say, they lost and were furious about it and called us cheap and insinuated that we had cheated them out of their inevitable State Championship. We just played the game that was in front of us and weren't too proud to do the little things that were needed to win on that stage. We made our outs count and took calculated risks to get our runners to 3rd with less than 2 outs. Those chances far outweighed our opponent's chances and the outcome showed as we won 9-2. You will actually see the bunt, steal and hit & run incorporated more into the Major League game during playoff time because they play the game that they are playing at that time. They try to create runs any way they can.
I will say this..."Money Ball" was created to give the A's an advantage by using the law of large numbers. Player A - We will call him "Cody Bellinger" for instance, makes his hay by beating up on #3,4,5 and the situational reliever (Not the 7th,8th and CL) He will face these guys roughly 60% of the time during the course of the season. So of his 600 or so AB's, somewhere around 350ish or so come against mid-level to bottom level Major League pitching and "Cup of Coffee" Minor Leaguers. His severe launch angle swing has far more success when facing guys that can't consistently exploit the massive holes in his swing. He is an AllStar because of these at-bats. However, when in the playoffs, #4 & 5 are out of the picture and the bottom 1/3 of the bullpen stays seated and watches the game, he is pitched to at a much higher level by guys that can consistently exploit the massive holes in his swing. As we have seen the last 2 years, he is frustratingly overmatched in these situations. Sure he might run into a mistake, but his futility has been record setting. I listened to John Smoltz laugh in studio 42 when Sean Casey explained the launch angle craze. He just said that he would love to pitch in today's game because the holes are so much more prevalent. This is how many teams are built...to have success during the regular season. Sure, you have to get there to win it all, but that shouldn't be the goal. There is only 1 trophy that matters...if you aren't playing for that 1 trophy, why ya playing at all? A .600 winning percentage during the regular season gets you to the dance most years. Well if you can beat up on #3,4&5 (on the average) you are playing .600 ball and are playoff bound. But if you are there and are built only to beat up on the bottom, you won't find success when you match up against the top of the rotations you are facing. I think that the successful teams marry both the analytic and the traditional worlds and are able to play in a variety of ways. They are able to grind out at bats and manufacture runs. They are clutch with 2 outs and strikeout less with runners in scoring position, yet take advantage of the advanced knowledge given to them by their analytics and scouting departments.
Baseball games are usually won by the team that gets the most runners to 3rd with less than two outs. I almost did a back flip a few years back when I heard Harold Reynolds say this while announcing during the Giants / Royals series. I had preached it for so long and to hear someone who played the game at the highest level say it in contrast to how the professional game is played just made me happy. It was no coincidence that those 2 teams were in the series...they struck out fewer times than any other teams in the Majors that year. They made their outs count. (He also spoke about that) Most winning teams have that in common regardless of the level. I understand that it is a business and fans have to be appeased. I understand that the dollar from the casual fan outweighs the diehard enthusiast. Clubs need to do what they can to fill the seats and the truth is that the casual fan would rather see a 8-7 game than a 2-1 game. This is where the disconnect is. There is winning baseball and there is business baseball. I think that once a fanbase is established, teams are more willing to do what is necessary to win. I also think that it is always refreshing to see the smaller market teams grind their way to success in spite of a lack of ticket sales. Usually because they bring in a Manager who incorporates the selfless mentality into his gameplanning and the players are more willing to do whatever it takes. They play with the "Us against the world" mentality and take pride in picking each other up. The Astros went from a 100 loss team to a winning team and regained their fanbase...then they broke it down and removed a bunch of K's from their lineup and brought in a few guys that didn't give at bats away and went from leading the league in K's (or close...not sure) to having the fewest K's in the league and not coincidentally...they won the World Series. However, the thing that went far more unnoticed by the casual fan was the togetherness of the 2017 Astros. I heard JV, Brian McCann and a few other veterans speak about how tight that group was. I heard the young guys talk about how much they appreciated the opportunity to learn from the older, more experienced guys. They were a grind it out, whatever it takes, always in the fight kind of club. This is what wins in High School Baseball. This is what wins in College Baseball. This is what wins in Professional Baseball. A lot of the ingredients are different, but this is common to all success. So to put a bow on this rambling post, I would say that when the game is played at the Championship level, be it the Majors, College or High School, it is played similarly. The "Money Factor" is the main difference.
Money - Let me start by saying that while I am not necessarily speaking about player's salaries, I am including them as part of the whole. There is such a disparity between the 2 entities in the amount of money that is spent on advanced scouting and analytics that it makes it almost non-existent in the amateur game. Not to say that it is actually non-existent...but in comparison...well you get the idea. The advanced scouting and analytical departments work together to develop game plans for all probabilities that can or will occur during just 1 game and is a luxury that most schools don't have(We can't go as deep or as thorough). If they do, it is nowhere near the scale of the professional model. By using all of the data that is mined, they have created a game that is played based on probability. At the scholastic level, we use probability in so much as, our players understand that in most cases, pitch location and type, determine trajectory, direction and speed of batted balls. For instance, RH batter - Pitcher throws something soft down and away - ground ball to the left side will most likely be rolled over on and the ball will be hit shorter and softer - 3rd knows that he will need to be ready pre-pitch to come hard and to his left to make a play on the most probable ball hit to him. This pre-pitch cue gives him the ability to look instinctive. Pitcher's have charts that they study and the game is called based on these charts and hitter tendencies. At the professional level, every batter is completely broken down into strengths and weaknesses and pitched accordingly. We obviously don't see the massive shifts at the scholastic level because we don't have as much data on every hitter as do the pro's. I wish I had an analytical dept and massive database on every hitter we see. Don't get me wrong, we go scout as often as we can and keep very detailed books on our familiar opponents but it isn't the same. Money and scale are the biggest differences.
When the debate comes up about the banning or reshaping of the shift in professional baseball, it makes me laugh. Seriously, if you want to beat the shift it isn't all that hard. Hit the ball the other way, handle the bat. This is another area where money comes into play. These guys don't get payed to spray the ball through the hole. They get paid when they hit bombs. I cringed when I heard Josh Donaldson speak on MLB Tonight and told young kids "If your coach tells you to hit the ball on the ground, tell him no!!!" His philosophy was, "I don't get paid to hit ground balls." You have to know who you were talking to though. A kid that is 5'6 and weighs 135 lbs has no business trying to lift balls...not if he wants to play at the high school level. The launch angle craze has been a huge hurdle for high school coaches across the country to overcome. Looping back, if hitters who are shifted on would show that they are willing to take what the defense is giving them, that in itself would eliminate the drastic shifting that is occurring. Their focus on the statline is the reason the K is at an all time high. Once again, money and scale are the biggest differences.
The K...Just In Time posted a thread on this topic a few weeks back. I understand the value of the K differs from level to level...but I am here to tell you that it is much more intolerable at the scholastic level than at the professional level. I can't afford for my hitters to not be productive in their at bats. I teach our kids to play the game that is in front of them. We have to win this one...it is the one that matters. I know that this sounds very simplistic, but I feel as though the professional game sometimes gets so focused on the long game that it loses sight of playing the game that they are playing right now. Contact is more important in the lower levels because the error is more prevalent. The bunt or steal or hit & run has all but vanished from many clubhouses. This is because the advanced statistical data tells them that over the course of 162 game season that they would score more runs if they didn't take chances with their outs. We don't have that luxury. Our lineups are not filled with the athletes that theirs are. We have to manufacture...we have to take chances. Our kids are taught to be selfless and to follow - "I will do my part - I will do my job - I will not let my brother down!!!" We teach our kids that they don't all have the same job...I have some kids that are very accomplished hitters, they know that their job is to drive in runs. I have some kids who know that their job is to move a runner...whatever it takes. I have some that are very inconsistent with the stick but their job is to see as many pitches as they can...dig in and be a pest...find a way to do something positive. Every role on our team is vital to the success of the team. I preach this to them daily...You may not like your role but your brother is counting on you to do it to the best of your ability...don't let him down. Again, money and scale are the main differences
A few years back, in the regional finals, we played a team that was more talented than we were. In the final game, we ran the suicide squeeze 5 times and score 6 runs as a result of the chance we took. I will never forget the coach asking me, like I was committing a sin by bunting, "Is that all ya'll can do?" My response was..."Until you show that you can beat us or stop us, it is all that we are going to do!!!" Needless to say, they lost and were furious about it and called us cheap and insinuated that we had cheated them out of their inevitable State Championship. We just played the game that was in front of us and weren't too proud to do the little things that were needed to win on that stage. We made our outs count and took calculated risks to get our runners to 3rd with less than 2 outs. Those chances far outweighed our opponent's chances and the outcome showed as we won 9-2. You will actually see the bunt, steal and hit & run incorporated more into the Major League game during playoff time because they play the game that they are playing at that time. They try to create runs any way they can.
I will say this..."Money Ball" was created to give the A's an advantage by using the law of large numbers. Player A - We will call him "Cody Bellinger" for instance, makes his hay by beating up on #3,4,5 and the situational reliever (Not the 7th,8th and CL) He will face these guys roughly 60% of the time during the course of the season. So of his 600 or so AB's, somewhere around 350ish or so come against mid-level to bottom level Major League pitching and "Cup of Coffee" Minor Leaguers. His severe launch angle swing has far more success when facing guys that can't consistently exploit the massive holes in his swing. He is an AllStar because of these at-bats. However, when in the playoffs, #4 & 5 are out of the picture and the bottom 1/3 of the bullpen stays seated and watches the game, he is pitched to at a much higher level by guys that can consistently exploit the massive holes in his swing. As we have seen the last 2 years, he is frustratingly overmatched in these situations. Sure he might run into a mistake, but his futility has been record setting. I listened to John Smoltz laugh in studio 42 when Sean Casey explained the launch angle craze. He just said that he would love to pitch in today's game because the holes are so much more prevalent. This is how many teams are built...to have success during the regular season. Sure, you have to get there to win it all, but that shouldn't be the goal. There is only 1 trophy that matters...if you aren't playing for that 1 trophy, why ya playing at all? A .600 winning percentage during the regular season gets you to the dance most years. Well if you can beat up on #3,4&5 (on the average) you are playing .600 ball and are playoff bound. But if you are there and are built only to beat up on the bottom, you won't find success when you match up against the top of the rotations you are facing. I think that the successful teams marry both the analytic and the traditional worlds and are able to play in a variety of ways. They are able to grind out at bats and manufacture runs. They are clutch with 2 outs and strikeout less with runners in scoring position, yet take advantage of the advanced knowledge given to them by their analytics and scouting departments.
Baseball games are usually won by the team that gets the most runners to 3rd with less than two outs. I almost did a back flip a few years back when I heard Harold Reynolds say this while announcing during the Giants / Royals series. I had preached it for so long and to hear someone who played the game at the highest level say it in contrast to how the professional game is played just made me happy. It was no coincidence that those 2 teams were in the series...they struck out fewer times than any other teams in the Majors that year. They made their outs count. (He also spoke about that) Most winning teams have that in common regardless of the level. I understand that it is a business and fans have to be appeased. I understand that the dollar from the casual fan outweighs the diehard enthusiast. Clubs need to do what they can to fill the seats and the truth is that the casual fan would rather see a 8-7 game than a 2-1 game. This is where the disconnect is. There is winning baseball and there is business baseball. I think that once a fanbase is established, teams are more willing to do what is necessary to win. I also think that it is always refreshing to see the smaller market teams grind their way to success in spite of a lack of ticket sales. Usually because they bring in a Manager who incorporates the selfless mentality into his gameplanning and the players are more willing to do whatever it takes. They play with the "Us against the world" mentality and take pride in picking each other up. The Astros went from a 100 loss team to a winning team and regained their fanbase...then they broke it down and removed a bunch of K's from their lineup and brought in a few guys that didn't give at bats away and went from leading the league in K's (or close...not sure) to having the fewest K's in the league and not coincidentally...they won the World Series. However, the thing that went far more unnoticed by the casual fan was the togetherness of the 2017 Astros. I heard JV, Brian McCann and a few other veterans speak about how tight that group was. I heard the young guys talk about how much they appreciated the opportunity to learn from the older, more experienced guys. They were a grind it out, whatever it takes, always in the fight kind of club. This is what wins in High School Baseball. This is what wins in College Baseball. This is what wins in Professional Baseball. A lot of the ingredients are different, but this is common to all success. So to put a bow on this rambling post, I would say that when the game is played at the Championship level, be it the Majors, College or High School, it is played similarly. The "Money Factor" is the main difference.
