Quote:
Originally Posted by lukasberger
While I don't disagree that it'd be preferable to have more evidence, I'd ask this: If base coaches don't matter, why does every MLB (Not to mention ***, KBO etc. etc.) team, even those devoted to analytics, continue to employ them?
Clearly every single professional baseball team thinks they do matter. So what would make you think they don't matter?
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Most sabermetricians believe (and have tangible evidence to show) that having a designate closer or not do not impact your ability to hold lead in the last inning, yet all teams, even the most sabermetric-inclined, still have someone designated as closer.
Not a perfect example, I know, but my point is just because "every team is doing it" doesn't make it an evidence that such thing is needed and make a real impact. And, unlike things such as "team chemistry“，"leadership ability", or other supposed intangible aspects, base-running success is something that we can measure, so I would prefer to have evidence support that base-coaches make a difference in base-running successes if this is a feature that is included and will impact the base-running success in the game.