Approach to Hitting...

[Orange Juiced]

Interesting article by Tom Verducci here:

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20130604/dustin-ackley-eric-wedge-sabermetrics/?sct=hp_t11_a6&eref=sihp

 

Worth a read. I'd love people's thoughts on this.

[Standing Room]

I don't think Verducci knows what he's talking about or put a whole lot of effort in to examining the issue. His evidence that hitters have become too patient is and a decline in runs per game while pitches per at bat is increasing. That hardly suggests a causal relationship between the two. There are a ton of other causes for higher pitch counts, such as pitchers avoiding contact and going for the strikeout. And a decrease in SLG, probably due to better steroids testing, probably has more to do with the decrease in runs than anything else.