Red Sox 2025 Trade Deadline Thread

[Maxbialystock]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

Hey-don't misunderstand me! This season has so far been much more fun than the last few years. No argument there at all. I'm just keeping the discussion grounded, especially in light of the history of collapses the franchise has put the fans through-and the abject failure by Breslow to help the team success the last couple of years at the trade deadline. That failure is real. Now lets sit back and continue to enjoy their success to date while keeping a wary eye on the possibility of yet another failure.

Grounded, shmounded.  It is impossible to be a Sox fan and not be very aware of all previous collapses--like 86 years without a WS win.  Were you around for any of that?   What you fail to understand is that hope is a good thing and vastly preferable to your destructive mantra, "flop sox."

[FredLynn]

7 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Grounded, shmounded.  It is impossible to be a Sox fan and not be very aware of all previous collapses--like 86 years without a WS win.  Were you around for any of that?   What you fail to understand is that hope is a good thing and vastly preferable to your destructive mantra, "flop sox."

Your best policy?

Hope for the best.

Prepare for the worst.

I’ve been a Flops fan for 60 years or so. I’ve seen them choke time after time. 
And it’s not “flop Sox”. It’s just Flops. Once they accomplish something they’ll be the Sox again to me.

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

They are second in runs scored and third in OPS in the AL. But if they reduced their chase rate they could be historically good perhaps. 

Why it that no one else has commented on how they could IMPROVE? I don't remember any of THOSE comments except from me.

It's not as simple as just "improving" on chase rates. You are asking for fundamental changes in hitting approaches that may end up lowering a players production while maybe lowering the chase rate.

Yes, in theory, better chase help, but if a guy is producing better than others, it doesn't bother me. Don't mees with a style of hitting that works.

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's not as simple as just "improving" on chase rates. You are asking for fundamental changes in hitting approaches that may end up lowering a players production while maybe lowering the chase rate.

Yes, in theory, better chase help, but if a guy is producing better than others, it doesn't bother me. Don't mees with a style of hitting that works.

If Rafaela just stopped swinging at sliders 2 ft out of the zone, it'd improve his chase rate. Does that fundamentally change his approach? Seems like it's a question of pitch recognition instead. 

[FredLynn]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's not as simple as just "improving" on chase rates. You are asking for fundamental changes in hitting approaches that may end up lowering a players production while maybe lowering the chase rate.

Yes, in theory, better chase help, but if a guy is producing better than others, it doesn't bother me. Don't mees with a style of hitting that works.

You reduce the chase rate you will improve contact and reduce the strikeout rate. Thats been a problem for this team-they strike out too much. It’s been pointed out multiple times by the commentators during the games over and over again. It’s a legitimate complaint and a way to improve.

[notin]

46 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Your best policy?

Hope for the best.

Prepare for the worst.

I’ve been a Flops fan for 60 years or so. I’ve seen them choke time after time. 
And it’s not “flop Sox”. It’s just Flops. Once they accomplish something they’ll be the Sox again to me.

Does this attitude make the collapses more tolerable or just allow you to say “I told you so?”

I get the George Will benefits of pessimism - that you’re constantly either proven correct or pleasantly surprised.  But if you follow that credo, it does mean you’re prioritizing being proven correct over personal enjoyment.

Personally, I’d rather enjoy the good times.  The bad times are going to suck regardless of whether or not I expect them…

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

If Rafaela just stopped swinging at sliders 2 ft out of the zone, it'd improve his chase rate. Does that fundamentally change his approach? Seems like it's a question of pitch recognition instead. 

It's hard to know. If he starts changing how he recognizes pitches, is it a sure bet it won't change how he swings or if he starts swinging at less strikes?

I agree, that "in theory," it should help enormously, but you are talking about a pretty major change that may have farther reaching ramifications than we might imagine.

[FredLynn]

3 hours ago, notin said:

Does this attitude make the collapses more tolerable or just allow you to say “I told you so?”

I get the George Will benefits of pessimism - that you’re constantly either proven correct or pleasantly surprised.  But if you follow that credo, it does mean you’re prioritizing being proven correct over personal enjoyment.

Personally, I’d rather enjoy the good times.  The bad times are going to suck regardless of whether or not I expect them…

You are confused. I am enjoying this brief period of euphoria caused by the success of the team as much as anyone. However there is clearly room for improvement and since no one else here seems to be able to point out those deficiencies I am here to help. Examples include but are not limited to having an unacceptably high chase rate, too many errors (like Rafaela throwing the ball to the first baseman last night when the first baseman was nowhere in sight,) and Breslow failing miserably at bringing in the kind of players needed to improve the chances of success for two years in a row. Not a lot of chatter here about those deficiencies. 
Still, the Flops are playing well overall and hopefully they can build on their current success and take it to the next steps. 

[moonslav59]

24 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

You are confused. I am enjoying this brief period of euphoria caused by the success of the team as much as anyone. However there is clearly room for improvement and since no one else here seems to be able to point out those deficiencies I am here to help. Examples include but are not limited to having an unacceptably high chase rate, too many errors (like Rafaela throwing the ball to the first baseman last night when the first baseman was nowhere in sight,) and Breslow failing miserably at bringing in the kind of players needed to improve the chances of success for two years in a row. Not a lot of chatter here about those deficiencies. 
Still, the Flops are playing well overall and hopefully they can build on their current success and take it to the next steps. 

I've posted my list of weak areas several times, so there is no need to say nobody else does it. Others do, too.

How is adding Crochet, Bregman and Chapman "failing miserably at bringing the kind of players needed to improve...?" (Maybe you just meant at the deadline, when return costs are grossly high.) "Not a lot of chatter?" LOL Many made comments that they wish or expected we'd do more.

Even after last night's loss, we still have the 9th best record in MLB (4th in AL.) We are 2 games behind being 5th! We are 4 GB having the second best record in MLB.

Maybe we flop: maybe we don't, but we have a young and deep team. We've gotten this far with 4 of our top 6 or 7 SP'ers out all year or near all year. Hendriks and Slaten were expected to be 2 of our top 4-5 RP'ers, this year. While our everyday players have stayed healthier than most teams (Casas and Bregman injuries notwithstanding,) I think we've shown we have a nice foundation. Most of our best players are young and have 3+ years of control. You rarely speak of the good, while chastising everybody else for rarely speaking about the bad.

There was a ton of talking about the bad, when we were bad. That is well documented. We are playing well, now, and there is no reason to think this is "another flop" year. There are no dominating AL teams. The Yanks are sucking. The Astros have injuries. The Tigers look beatable. The Jays have looked good, but look at their roster and tell me why you think we are "steps away" from being as good as them, DET & HOU.

 

[FredLynn]

24 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I've posted my list of weak areas several times, so there is no need to say nobody else does it. Others do, too.

How is adding Crochet, Bregman and Chapman "failing miserably at bringing the kind of players needed to improve...?" (Maybe you just meant at the deadline, when return costs are grossly high.) "Not a lot of chatter?" LOL Many made comments that they wish or expected we'd do more.

Even after last night's loss, we still have the 9th best record in MLB (4th in AL.) We are 2 games behind being 5th! We are 4 GB having the second best record in MLB.

Maybe we flop: maybe we don't, but we have a young and deep team. We've gotten this far with 4 of our top 6 or 7 SP'ers out all year or near all year. Hendriks and Slaten were expected to be 2 of our top 4-5 RP'ers, this year. While our everyday players have stayed healthier than most teams (Casas and Bregman injuries notwithstanding,) I think we've shown we have a nice foundation. Most of our best players are young and have 3+ years of control. You rarely speak of the good, while chastising everybody else for rarely speaking about the bad.

There was a ton of talking about the bad, when we were bad. That is well documented. We are playing well, now, and there is no reason to think this is "another flop" year. There are no dominating AL teams. The Yanks are sucking. The Astros have injuries. The Tigers look beatable. The Jays have looked good, but look at their roster and tell me why you think we are "steps away" from being as good as them, DET & HOU.

 

I meant at the deadline . Breslow failed miserably to bring in the players the team needed to improve their chances of success and getting a ring. In fact he’s failed two years in a row.I believe you have stated as much. Matz has looked good in a small sample size but May looked awful. Had he addressed those needs we could have competed with the best teams in baseball for a championship. You either go for it or you sell. The noncommittal path is a cop out.

The other deficiencies are rarely addressed by others here. I covered them in a different post. They have the MOST errors in baseball and the fourth highest chase rate. I rarely hear those facts mentioned on the game threads or anywhere else for that matter. Personally I think a more balanced assessment of this team is warranted.

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I meant at the deadline . Breslow failed miserably to bring in the players the team needed to improve their chances of success and getting a ring. In fact he’s failed two years in a row.I believe you have stated as much. Matz has looked good in a small sample size but May looked awful. Had he addressed those needs we could have competed with the best teams in baseball for a championship. You either go for it or you sell. The noncommittal path is a cop out.

The other deficiencies are rarely addressed by others here. I covered them in a different post. They have the MOST errors in baseball and the fourth highest chase rate. I rarely hear those facts mentioned on the game threads or anywhere else for that matter. Personally I think a more balanced assessment of this team is warranted.

The deficiencies have been beaten to death all season long, but of course less, recently as we have been winning. The trolls have disappeared.

We've talked about our defense ad nauseum. I've posted several times how we lead the majors in unearned runs scored, and when you look at pitching metrics that weed our bad defenses, our pitching looks much better.

Players like Story we blasted into outer spade for years. It's only recently, that has stopped.

To me, and others have agreed on some, we are weak at:

1B

2B until Mayer returns

DH as long as Yoshida keeps playing

SP4

SP5

Some think back-up C. (That does not bother me, but we could do better than Wong, but probably not mid season.) 

Maybe more pen help, but the pen has been our strong area, nearly all season.

That's 2-4 major weak areas. (We can DH Anthony, when/if Mayer returns.)

FYI, the game threads are ripe with hyper critical comments about how much so and so sucks, and just about every players has "sucked" according to someone, at some point, this season. I'm not bothering to visit  the game thread for at least one night, as a result of the absurd level of negativity.

[moonslav59]

5 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Grounded, shmounded.  It is impossible to be a Sox fan and not be very aware of all previous collapses--like 86 years without a WS win.  Were you around for any of that?   What you fail to understand is that hope is a good thing and vastly preferable to your destructive mantra, "flop sox."

I guess we could call 2019 a "flop," as the expectations were high going in.

2020 was a total write-off. Very low expectations, so no flop.

2021 was a surprise.

Expectations were rather high for 2022, due to 2021, but most of us were very pissed off at the lack of positive moves that winter. We only had one winning month in '22, so despite the nice June, I don't call it a flop.

2023 saw many of us with low expectations going in and maybe half of us wanting to sell at the deadline, including myself. We were sub .500 to start July and had a good month. We fell apart, so I guess "flop" kinda fits, but nobody thought we shoulda won it, so to me, the word "flop" for 2023 is hyperbole.

So, maybe 2-3 flops in the past 5 seasons. One could argue the front office flopped 5 years ina row.

[Hitch]

10 hours ago, FredLynn said:

You are confused. I am enjoying this brief period of euphoria caused by the success of the team as much as anyone. However there is clearly room for improvement and since no one else here seems to be able to point out those deficiencies I am here to help. Examples include but are not limited to having an unacceptably high chase rate, too many errors (like Rafaela throwing the ball to the first baseman last night when the first baseman was nowhere in sight,) and Breslow failing miserably at bringing in the kind of players needed to improve the chances of success for two years in a row. Not a lot of chatter here about those deficiencies. 
Still, the Flops are playing well overall and hopefully they can build on their current success and take it to the next steps. 

You speak some ungodly amounts of s*** on times Fred. 

That's all this forum does is point out the deficiencies. Every damn day, ad nauseam. You're not doing a service here. You're like Greta Thunberg rocking up at a Greenpeace convention announcing  "I'm here to teach you about about the environment."

And saying Breslow has failed miserably for two years to bring people in to improve this team when we had 3 all stars and they were all guys he brought in, is quite the comment. As for the deadline, you mentioned you wouldn't give up an Anthony for a No2, but then demanded we get one anyway. Seeing as no team, despite nearly all of them needing starting pitching, managed to get a 2, you'd think it might tell you something. But. no, you know best. 

I blame Moon for this. You seem to quite taken with yourself and your takes at the moment (despite the fact you often cover every conceivable angle across a couple of posts so you can say - see told ya!), but you're making yourself look ridiculous with some of the stuff you're posting recently. And you are desperate for the team to fail so you can be proven right. It pours out of you. Just enjoy it, it's okay to be wrong on things.

[Bellhorn04]

4 hours ago, Hitch said:

You speak some ungodly amounts of s*** on times Fred. 

That's all this forum does is point out the deficiencies. Every damn day, ad nauseam. You're not doing a service here. You're like Greta Thunberg rocking up at a Greenpeace convention announcing  "I'm here to teach you about about the environment."

And saying Breslow has failed miserably for two years to bring people in to improve this team when we had 3 all stars and they were all guys he brought in, is quite the comment. As for the deadline, you mentioned you wouldn't give up an Anthony for a No2, but then demanded we get one anyway. Seeing as no team, despite nearly all of them needing starting pitching, managed to get a 2, you'd think it might tell you something. But. no, you know best. 

I blame Moon for this. You seem to quite taken with yourself and your takes at the moment (despite the fact you often cover every conceivable angle across a couple of posts so you can say - see told ya!), but you're making yourself look ridiculous with some of the stuff you're posting recently. And you are desperate for the team to fail so you can be proven right. It pours out of you. Just enjoy it, it's okay to be wrong on things.

I had to put him on ignore simply because he's been posting so much. It's not just that he's so negative, but he's also very preachy and argumentative about it.  Basically he loves to hear himself talk, and if you get into it with him, you're just giving an attention-seeker exactly what he wants.

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, Hitch said:

You speak some ungodly amounts of s*** on times Fred. 

That's all this forum does is point out the deficiencies. Every damn day, ad nauseam. You're not doing a service here. You're like Greta Thunberg rocking up at a Greenpeace convention announcing  "I'm here to teach you about about the environment."

And saying Breslow has failed miserably for two years to bring people in to improve this team when we had 3 all stars and they were all guys he brought in, is quite the comment. As for the deadline, you mentioned you wouldn't give up an Anthony for a No2, but then demanded we get one anyway. Seeing as no team, despite nearly all of them needing starting pitching, managed to get a 2, you'd think it might tell you something. But. no, you know best. 

I blame Moon for this. You seem to quite taken with yourself and your takes at the moment (despite the fact you often cover every conceivable angle across a couple of posts so you can say - see told ya!), but you're making yourself look ridiculous with some of the stuff you're posting recently. And you are desperate for the team to fail so you can be proven right. It pours out of you. Just enjoy it, it's okay to be wrong on things.

You crack me up. I try to be balanced and truthful. Fred is right, pretty often. Because I say it is not enabling him to continue being negative. He's been like that long before my first reply to his posts.

[FredLynn]

5 hours ago, Hitch said:

You speak some ungodly amounts of s*** on times Fred. 

That's all this forum does is point out the deficiencies. Every damn day, ad nauseam. You're not doing a service here. You're like Greta Thunberg rocking up at a Greenpeace convention announcing  "I'm here to teach you about about the environment."

And saying Breslow has failed miserably for two years to bring people in to improve this team when we had 3 all stars and they were all guys he brought in, is quite the comment. As for the deadline, you mentioned you wouldn't give up an Anthony for a No2, but then demanded we get one anyway. Seeing as no team, despite nearly all of them needing starting pitching, managed to get a 2, you'd think it might tell you something. But. no, you know best. 

I blame Moon for this. You seem to quite taken with yourself and your takes at the moment (despite the fact you often cover every conceivable angle across a couple of posts so you can say - see told ya!), but you're making yourself look ridiculous with some of the stuff you're posting recently. And you are desperate for the team to fail so you can be proven right. It pours out of you. Just enjoy it, it's okay to be wrong on things.

I want the team to succeed as much as anyone here. When I point out their deficiencies (like Breslow failing to do his job AT THE DEADLINE) the response I get is “you’re too negative” sometimes rather than a discussion about the issue I raised. I also issue positive posts when a good play is made, for example. 
Now I’m going to get back to discussing baseball rather than discussing me or other individuals.

[notin]

2 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I had to put him on ignore simply because he's been posting so much. It's not just that he's so negative, but he's also very preachy and argumentative about it.  Basically he loves to hear himself talk, and if you get into it with him, you're just giving an attention-seeker exactly what he wants.

Moderators can put people on ignore?

[notin]

19 hours ago, FredLynn said:

You reduce the chase rate you will improve contact and reduce the strikeout rate. Thats been a problem for this team-they strike out too much. It’s been pointed out multiple times by the commentators during the games over and over again. It’s a legitimate complaint and a way to improve.

Except that most hitters reduce their chase rate by taking more pitches, which includes taking more strikes along with more balls.  In the end, they often simply replace swinging third strikes with called third strikes…

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Moderators can put people on ignore?

Yes, and it's something we've discussed.    

[FredLynn]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Except that most hitters reduce their chase rate by taking more pitches, which includes taking more strikes along with more balls.  In the end, they often simply replace swinging third strikes with called third strikes…

Maybe that happens sometimes. And at other times hitters simply become more selective at the pitches they swing at. Regardless, being the fourth worst team at Chase rate  certainly isn’t something to be proud of. It’s an area for them to improve on. 

[Maxbialystock]

19 hours ago, FredLynn said:

Your best policy?

Hope for the best.

Prepare for the worst.

I’ve been a Flops fan for 60 years or so. I’ve seen them choke time after time. 
And it’s not “flop Sox”. It’s just Flops. Once they accomplish something they’ll be the Sox again to me.

 

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

You crack me up. I try to be balanced and truthful. Fred is right, pretty often. Because I say it is not enabling him to continue being negative. He's been like that long before my first reply to his posts.

I agree he can be right and have told him so.  But I also intensely dislike his name for the Sox--"Flops."  

He does that, he says, to prevent the rest of us from being too optimistic and unable to see all the flaws he claims to see. 

And to me that claim is ridiculous.  All of us have found games, moments, months, seasons which we have been more than happy to criticize.  My fav is the 2019 season when the Sox had the highest payroll in MLB and couldn't make the postseason because the pricey pitching collapsed and it was going to take a whole lot more money to fix it.  The September collapse of the Sox in 2011 is another.  

The team we are watching now is anything but a bunch of flops.  They are young (in MLB experience), and have had to deal with bunches of injuries, but right now are playing solid baseball without Houck, Slaten, Mayer, Crawford, Casas, Winckowski, Devers, et al.  

[Hitch]

13 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Glad to hear you enjoy reading what I write here. Hopefully you’re learning something.

Much love to you, as always, Fred. 

Less love to Moon, who created this runaway monster!! 

[Maxbialystock]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

Except that most hitters reduce their chase rate by taking more pitches, which includes taking more strikes along with more balls.  In the end, they often simply replace swinging third strikes with called third strikes…

These Sox are ranked 4th in MLB in runs scored and 6th in OPS--and they are ranked 4th in MLB in K's.   The Jays have the fewest K's in MLB and are ranked 5th in runs scored.   

Different strokes for different folks.  

[FredLynn]

29 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

 

I agree he can be right and have told him so.  But I also intensely dislike his name for the Sox--"Flops."  

He does that, he says, to prevent the rest of us from being too optimistic and unable to see all the flaws he claims to see. 

And to me that claim is ridiculous.  All of us have found games, moments, months, seasons which we have been more than happy to criticize.  My fav is the 2019 season when the Sox had the highest payroll in MLB and couldn't make the postseason because the pricey pitching collapsed and it was going to take a whole lot more money to fix it.  The September collapse of the Sox in 2011 is another.  

The team we are watching now is anything but a bunch of flops.  They are young (in MLB experience), and have had to deal with bunches of injuries, but right now are playing solid baseball without Houck, Slaten, Mayer, Crawford, Casas, Winckowski, Devers, et al.  

Ok Max. That’s a change I can make. 

[FredLynn]

26 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

These Sox are ranked 4th in MLB in runs scored and 6th in OPS--and they are ranked 4th in MLB in K's.   The Jays have the fewest K's in MLB and are ranked 5th in runs scored.   

Different strokes for different folks.  

The point is that it’s reasonable to assume that the SOX would become even better if they reduced their chase rate and struck out less. Wouldn’t you agree?

And by the way, they are the fourth WORST in strikeouts per game. Only Seattle, Colorado, and the Angels are worse.

 

https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/stat/strikeouts-per-game

[notin]

2 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

The point is that it’s reasonable to assume that the SOX would become even better if they reduced their chase rate and struck out less. Wouldn’t you agree?

Those are two different asks - reducing chase rate AND striking out less.  They are not related, and reducing chase rate is more likely to increase strike outs than decrease them.  They are not problem here is you expect one type of hitter to seamlessly morph into a completely different type of hitter.  This is more likely to go wrong than go right…

[Bellhorn04]

11 minutes ago, notin said:

Those are two different asks - reducing chase rate AND striking out less.  They are not related, and reducing chase rate is more likely to increase strike outs than decrease them.  They are not problem here is you expect one type of hitter to seamlessly morph into a completely different type of hitter.  This is more likely to go wrong than go right…

You can explain it as well and as often as you like.  Or, you can use that time to talk to a brick wall.  You'll get the same results in either case.

[FredLynn]

34 minutes ago, notin said:

Those are two different asks - reducing chase rate AND striking out less.  They are not related, and reducing chase rate is more likely to increase strike outs than decrease them.  They are not problem here is you expect one type of hitter to seamlessly morph into a completely different type of hitter.  This is more likely to go wrong than go right…

They are different measurable parameters but they are related. It’s harder to make contact on balls that are a foot off the plate. So the K rate is bound to be higher if the chase rate is higher. It’s no coincidence that the 2018 World Series championship team was one of the best at not striking out-fifth best in all of baseball. While this team is currently doing well I don’t expect that they will have that level of success. 
Cora has said that the K rate is something the team has talked about. They are aware of the need to be more selective.

• June 25, 2025: Following a loss to the Angels where the Red Sox struck out 14 times, Cora acknowledged the team's ongoing struggle with strikeouts, stating, "If you follow us, we've been striking out since day one, so we need to make adjustments".

 

https://www.si.com/mlb/red-sox/boston-red-sox-news/alex-cora-gives-brutally-honest-take-on-red-sox-s-fatal-flaw-jackson3#:~:text=In this story:-,Boston Red Sox,traded that's really been alarming.

I know that chase rate and K rate are different, but I maintain that they are related. This is from an AI search: 

 

• Chasing pitches increases strikeout risk:

  When a batter swings at pitches outside the strike zone, they are more likely to miss the ball (resulting in a whiff) or make weak contact, increasing the chances of striking out. 

 

[FredLynn]

19 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

You can explain it as well and as often as you like.  Or, you can use that time to talk to a brick wall.  You'll get the same results in either case.

Or you can accept the fact that I am right on this issue.

[notin]

32 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

They are different measurable parameters but they are related. It’s harder to make contact on balls that are a foot off the plate. So the K rate is bound to be higher if the chase rate is higher. It’s no coincidence that the 2018 World Series championship team was one of the best at not striking out-fifth best in all of baseball. While this team is currently doing well I don’t expect that they will have that level of success. 
Cora has said that the K rate is something the team has talked about. They are aware of the need to be more selective.

• June 25, 2025: Following a loss to the Angels where the Red Sox struck out 14 times, Cora acknowledged the team's ongoing struggle with strikeouts, stating, "If you follow us, we've been striking out since day one, so we need to make adjustments".

 

https://www.si.com/mlb/red-sox/boston-red-sox-news/alex-cora-gives-brutally-honest-take-on-red-sox-s-fatal-flaw-jackson3#:~:text=In this story:-,Boston Red Sox,traded that's really been alarming.

I know that chase rate and K rate are different, but I maintain that they are related. This is from an AI search: 

 

• Chasing pitches increases strikeout risk:

  When a batter swings at pitches outside the strike zone, they are more likely to miss the ball (resulting in a whiff) or make weak contact, increasing the chances of striking out. 

 

They are more likely to miss than they are to be Vlad Guerrero Sr.  This is true.

But hitters have tried to change their approach before by reducing chase rate.  And this gets implemented by taking more pitches.  It’s all they can really do.  When hitters take more pitches, they also take more strikes.  You’re probably going to cut down on swinging third strikes, but also increase taken third strikes.  But on the bright side - lower chase rate!