OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Three batter minimum for pitchers in 2020

Dyzalot · 12-12-2019, 05:58 PM

I think this can all be traced back to the fact that today's athletes are so much better than they were 100 years ago. Back then "putting the ball in play" made sense since defense was so awful. Also, not many guys could hit the ball that hard compared to today's athletes so pitchers could get away with "pitching to contact" which allowed them to use less pitches per batter and thus last longer every start. Today though for hitters just "putting the ball in play" isn't as important because today's athletes are such good defenders. Therefore hitters need to be pickier and be willing to take walks and risk strikeouts in order to get a pitch they can drive. Pitchers have also had to adjust to this. Trying to "pitch to contact" today will just get you blasted by today's hitters. Therefore you need to risk walking more guys in order to try and get more strikeouts and less balls hit with solid contact. I think all of this has changed baseball from a game where the average hitter maybe saw three pitches per PA to a game where they might see an average of over four pitches per PA? Just guessing at those rates but I expect the change from then to now to be at least as dramatic. So blame it all on better athletes who can defend better, hit harder and throw harder and with more spin as to why each plate appearance seems to take twice as long as it most likely did 100 years ago.

12-12-2019, 05:58 PM	#15
Dyzalot All Star Starter Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1,735	I think this can all be traced back to the fact that today's athletes are so much better than they were 100 years ago. Back then "putting the ball in play" made sense since defense was so awful. Also, not many guys could hit the ball that hard compared to today's athletes so pitchers could get away with "pitching to contact" which allowed them to use less pitches per batter and thus last longer every start. Today though for hitters just "putting the ball in play" isn't as important because today's athletes are such good defenders. Therefore hitters need to be pickier and be willing to take walks and risk strikeouts in order to get a pitch they can drive. Pitchers have also had to adjust to this. Trying to "pitch to contact" today will just get you blasted by today's hitters. Therefore you need to risk walking more guys in order to try and get more strikeouts and less balls hit with solid contact. I think all of this has changed baseball from a game where the average hitter maybe saw three pitches per PA to a game where they might see an average of over four pitches per PA? Just guessing at those rates but I expect the change from then to now to be at least as dramatic. So blame it all on better athletes who can defend better, hit harder and throw harder and with more spin as to why each plate appearance seems to take twice as long as it most likely did 100 years ago.