Out of the Rafters at the Q
Out of the Rafters
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Nice post!3rd most hits doesn’t mean much when most of them are singles and that’s all he does to get on base. Though singles are more impactful than walks in my opinion! A lot of these stat people like to argue a walk is just as good as a single but I don’t agree at all.
But that’s how you end up being 3rd in the AL in hits but 48th in OPS and 45th in on base in the AL, down around guys like Kiner Falefa who Yankees fans want gone and Elvis Andrus who can’t get a job.
While I do agree that singles are more valuable than walks, there's one hidden piece to the walk that I value highly... total number of pitches.
I think there is value to a lineup that sees a lot of pitches. As you make pitchers work, they're more likely to make a mistake. You're also going to get into the bullpen and work through the top bullpen options quicker.
I think that's part of what made our 2016 lineup tick. Napoli and Santana were among the top 5 players in baseball at pitches per plate appearance.
I always have a soft spot for guys who can work counts and see a lot of pitches--and I also think it's a metric that isn't being valued monetarily right now, so we can strike before other teams start to drive up the price for that skill.