Hitting in the Post Roid Era

Howdy everyone , I was (as many of us are) pondering the failure of the Braves offense this season and decided to post my opinions on how the fundamental idea of hitting has to change in the post roid era.

As we all know, we are presently in a new era of baseball. It is now a league of pitching. no longer can we expect to see 10+ guys hitting 40+ HR's every year and 40 guys hitting over 30 HR's. Gone are the days of 6 .300 hitters per team and tam batting avg's nearing .280 in the NL. Nope, with the testing for PHD's and the ever improving bull pen specialization the entire approach to hitting must change for teams to be successful. That doesn't mean that the 3 run HR is gone as an ideal, nor does that mean a return to the mythical notion of "small ball" it does,however, put a premium on the preservation of "OUTS".

In my estimation, the most important thing a batter can do is not make an out. Outs are the currency of baseball since there is no clock. If you can make fewer outs per PA than your opponent you will generally win games. The best manner in which to preserve said outs is PATIENCE and PLATE DISCIPLINE. Batters must come to the plate with a plan of attack based on scouting and personal initiative to study their opponent. Now granted, the pitcher has done his homework too and even the best hitters in baseball are gonna make outs close to 60% of the time but a hyper aggressive approach simply won't work anymore.(as demonstrated by the Braves pitiful offense this year)

I'm not someone who really buys into "small ball" it's biggest flaw is that it encourages sacrificing outs for the gain of a single run. Generally, this method will result in fewer runs per game than a standard approach of driving the ball for extra bases and attempting to get hits rather than wasting outs. That doesn't mean that there aren't certain situations where "small ball" isn't a good idea (tied at home in the late innings, losing on the road in late innings, runners in force play positions with the pitcher batting and less than 2 outs...etc) But if one considers how often the lead off man reaches per game and then assumes PERFECT performance in bunting , stealing hitting to the right side and then sac flys , it still leads to around a 4 run per game avg and that won't get it done. It's lower half of offense numbers.

What teams that are successful do with the bats is they do not waste outs. They draw tons of walks and force starting pitchers to throw more pitches per inning. The downside of this philosophy is there WILL be an increase of strikeouts as a team. But strikeouts tend to involve more pitches per PA than ground outs to first so though a K doesn't advance a runner by showing more plate discipline a batter can greatly increase a starters pitch count making him tire faster and more prone to make mistakes. Which leads me to my next point.

Waiting for your pitch is key. This years team seemed to go to the plate coiled like a spring waiting to flail away at anything resembling a strike. Being that 2010's team seemed to be more patient this MUST have been a fundamental "theme" for the offense constructed by Parrish/ Fredi or both. This is a terrible , awful way to approach hitting, even in the roid era it was bad. I saw the 2011 Braves swing at more bad balls in hitters counts than any team I can remember. Hitters MUST understand that when they have the advantage is when they must show the MOST restraint. When the count is 2-1, 3-1, 2-0, and 3-0 the hitter should have ZERO incentive to swing at a pitch that is not in their "happy zone". I understand that that is no guarantee of good contact every time. But I would make a bet that this approach would lead to a more consistent offensive approach. Heyward is a prime example of this. Starting from 2010 when Bobby said that Heyward wasn't aggressive enough at the plate until the last 30 games of this season, he struggled. As soon as Heyward began to take more pitches, KABOOM all of a sudden he began to hit again (ending the year with an OBP of near .400 in his last 17 games). Hitters must understand that when the count is theirs to be extra patient, aggression comes into play when one gets behind in the count due to the need to protect the plate. There is NEVER a reason to swing at breaking pitches (well non hangers anyway) when a hitter controls the count.

Bunting.... Bunting is a waste. Unless you are Bourne trying to beat it out for a hit or a pitcher trying to avoid the DP bunts are essentially free outs. As said above ,outs are currency one base is not worth one out unless that base is home plate.

Sac flies- I'm not against the concept of the sacrifice fly, however I am against it being the goal of the hitter at the plate. The mindset of a batter with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 out should NOT be " I should just hit a fly ball to the OF for a sac fly" it SHOULD be "I'm going to make damn sure I hit this ball on a line to the outfield" the difference being that a hit is much preferable to an out. especially in bases loaded situations as it usually means 2 runs or more. The bonus of this mindset is that even IF said batter makes a flyball out, the sacrifice usually still occurs, making the out palatable thouggh not the ideal.

Advancing the runner to 3rd by hitting it on the ground to the right side.- The biggest waste of an out in baseball, also perhaps the biggest misunderstood play in the game. It's touted by announcers, ex players and present day players alike (as noted by all the high fives seen in the dugout after one occurs) It's as much a waste of an out as a pop foul is. "wait wait Bravos yer wrong the guy advanced a base!" you say? Nope, the truth of the matter is that a runner on 2nd with 1 out is more likely to score than a runner from 3rd with 2 outs. and if its a runner on 2nd with 0 outs the batter should be attempting to drive the ball and create a big inning rather than sacrificing outs for bases. I hate that play and sometimes I understand it's a result of trying to pull a ball and drive it not a planned play. But no batter should be trying to make an out unless he's a pitcher or that run will win or tie a game in the 9th. NEVER!!!!

So, in closing, I think I can safely summarize my principle of modern batting with 2 words PLATE DISCIPLINE. The modern batter must take more pitches, make the pitcher work harder, be patient when ahead in the count and aggressive when behind, never give himelf up freely and always attempt to get hits when batting yet not afraid to take a swift trot to first base. Walks are the 3rd best thing a batter can do 1st being hit a HR and 2nd being getting a hit. A walk is not an out, and not making outs is the key to success in this modern age of pitching.