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Thread: Ten Ways to Boost Offense

  1. #1
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    Ten Ways to Boost Offense

    I found this article refreshing, because well, selfishly, it pretty much summed up exactly some of my points with regards to the detriment of striking out as well as productive outs.
    Enjoy

    http://espn.go.com/mlb/preview15/sto...-boost-offense

    Baseball teams scored an average of 4.07 runs per game last year, more than one run fewer than they averaged in 2000. It also was Major League Baseball's lowest scoring average since 1981 and the same rate teams averaged way back in 1969. Batters also struck out a record 37,441 times, more than 15 times per game, an 18 percent increase from just a decade ago. The major league batting average of .251 was the lowest since 1972.

    Why? Teams are employing defensive shifts. Umpires are calling lower strikes. And pitchers are throwing harder than ever.
    Shocking.

    How Hitters Can Help Themselves
    1. Cut the Strikeouts --
    Some may consider a strikeout just another out, but it isn't, providing no opportunity to move up a runner. Swinging and missing also gives you no chance at getting on base whatsoever. Making contact does.
    2. Beat the Shift
    "All you have to do [as a left-handed hitter] is hit the ball to shortstop twice in a series, and they won't use the shift anymore,'' Brett said. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. If they had put three guys on one side of the infield against me, I could have hit .450. Because I could hit a ball to the shortstop anytime I wanted. And when I see these teams put the shift on and guys still hit into the shift, these guys all have to go to the doctor and get a lobotomy because they're playing into the team's strength."
    3. Know Thyself --
    "Hitting is a tough thing to do," Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "What we've taught even young kids is a little out of whack. I think we've gotten away from teaching hitting right. We need to teach guys to use the whole field, to keep the bat in the strike zone. As you get closer to the big leagues, approach is so important. If you can't make adjustments up there, if you don't understand what you do as a hitter and understand what the pitcher does and how to attack that, you're in trouble.

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    Old school 1983 (04-01-2015)


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  4. #2
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    Re: Ten Ways to Boost Offense

    Why? Teams are employing defensive shifts. Umpires are calling lower strikes. And pitchers are throwing harder than ever.


    Ok, but seems like an agenda when you intentionally ignore steroids. I know steroids aren't the answer to the problem, but to pretend the difference between 2000 and 2014 is something besides steroids is a false premise.

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    Re: Ten Ways to Boost Offense

    Quote Originally Posted by swaisuc View Post
    Ok, but seems like an agenda when you intentionally ignore steroids. I know steroids aren't the answer to the problem, but to pretend the difference between 2000 and 2014 is something besides steroids is a false premise.
    They probably play a role, but we'll never know how much of one. What I do know is that until 2004 MLB's average fastball was below 90 mph. It has been above 90 mph since that time, and it is now up to over 92 mph. Considering the direct correlation between teams with faster fastball pitchers and strikeouts and wins, this would seem the greater correlate of pitching prowess over the past several years than steroids. Not only that, players are still using steroids, just not as many (that we know of). Chris Davis, for example, is an obvious case (and someone who has been busted). His 2014 didn't look too great to me, in spite of the PEDs.
    "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and [the St. Louis Cardinals]."--Benjamin Disraeli

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    Re: Ten Ways to Boost Offense

    Seems kind of odd that the commissioner would be considering outlawing the shift. I mean, it's not against the rules.

    If you don't like the shift, quit trying to pull the ball every time.

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    Old school 1983 (04-12-2015)

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    Re: Ten Ways to Boost Offense

    It's simple. Just go out and draft a bunch of George Bretts.

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    oneupper (04-13-2015)

  10. #6
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    Re: Ten Ways to Boost Offense

    11. Add expansion teams, diluting pitching. While this would dilute hitting as well, pitching would likely suffer more, as there seems to be a more precipitous talent cliff.
    It is on the whole probable that we continually dream, but that consciousness makes such a noise that we do not hear it. Carl Jung.

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    Re: Ten Ways to Boost Offense

    How to boost offense? Easy.

    Clone Kevin Gregg.

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    KronoRed (04-12-2015)

  13. #8
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    Re: Ten Ways to Boost Offense

    Quote Originally Posted by Slippin'Jimmy View Post
    How to boost offense? Easy.

    Clone Kevin Gregg.
    Just loan him out to the opposing team


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