Has the air ball revolution hurt us most?

[El Gordo]

Manny 2016: GB/FB% 0.88, LD% 20.0, GB% 37.3, FB% 42.7, IFFB% 14.3, HR/FB 16.5

Manny 2017:  GB/FB% 0.99, LD% 14.5, GB% 42.5, FB% 43.0, IFFB% 17.4, HR/FB 16.3

Doesn't look like it's working for him.

[Lucky_13]

1 hour ago, El Gordo said:

Manny 2016: GB/FB% 0.88, LD% 20.0, GB% 37.3, FB% 42.7, IFFB% 14.3, HR/FB 16.5

Manny 2017:  GB/FB% 0.99, LD% 14.5, GB% 42.5, FB% 43.0, IFFB% 17.4, HR/FB 16.3

Doesn't look like it's working for him.

What I don't get is why he changed his approach so drastically. He hit 30+ homers the last 2 years while having a much more sound approach at the plate. Makes no sense.

[Hallas]

1 hour ago, El Gordo said:

Manny 2016: GB/FB% 0.88, LD% 20.0, GB% 37.3, FB% 42.7, IFFB% 14.3, HR/FB 16.5

Manny 2017:  GB/FB% 0.99, LD% 14.5, GB% 42.5, FB% 43.0, IFFB% 17.4, HR/FB 16.3

Doesn't look like it's working for him.

He's made up for some of that with a +50% or so improvement in his walk rate.  Pitchers are pitching him a little tougher as well.

I agree that he's not doing the greatest.  But he's still getting screwed by BABIP.  His xBABIP according to Alex Chamberlain's xBABIP calculator is .279.  It's currently at .240.  And he's walking a lot more.

[El Gordo]

Just now, Hallas said:

He's made up for some of that with a +50% or so improvement in his walk rate.  Pitchers are pitching him a little tougher as well.

I agree that he's not doing the greatest.  But he's still getting screwed by BABIP.  His xBABIP according to Alex Chamberlain's xBABIP calculator is .279.  It's currently at .240.  And he's walking a lot more.

He's stilll getting himself out more by hitting more IFFB and COC and GB.

[CheeryO]

6 hours ago, ArtVanDelay said:

Who said anything about line drives?

A line drive isn't a ground ball or a fly ball. 

From your original comment I thought you were dividing everything into ground balls and fly balls.  I couldn't make sense of your original comment, which is why I mentioned line drives.  

[NashLumber]

On 6/26/2017 at 3:08 PM, osfan83 said:

Without Statcast, I'm sure players of the 1950's and 1960's knew it was easier to hit HR's with an uppercut swing. Hitters have always been able to change their swings to cut down on ground balls. I don't see launch angle info being ground breaking, just confirming what we already knew, and giving it more granularity. 

Uppercut advocate from yonder times. 

 

[Frobby]

10 minutes ago, NashLumber said:

Uppercut advocate from yonder times. 

 

Interesting thing about that photo is the size of the strike zone in those days.    Those top two rows of baseballs wouldn't be strikes today.    Maybe even the top three rows.   

[Drifter]

Too many non-HR hitters come to the plate swinging for the fences. We play in a division that house the only artificial fields (Trop and Rogers). We play in Toronto 10 times, and TB 9 times.

While admitting my ignorance regarding everything statcast.. I have an observation that (I think) is hurting the O's offensive chances a little.

For my argument, I'm picking J. Rickard. He's supposed to be a speed guy, yet he appears to always be swinging up. If you look at his GB % for 2017, he's averaging 40% GB. That's lower than Mancini, Trumbo, Schoop, Machado and Jones. Supposedly, he's faster than all of them. What hitting coach wouldn't point that out to him? That's the last thing I would want a 'speedster' to do is try to hit the ball in the air, especially on artificial turf.

For all I know, it's all on JR.. and the reason he was a Rule V pick..

[Drifter]

1 hour ago, NashLumber said:

Uppercut advocate from yonder times. 

 

How did they come up with this? Was someone actually tracking this stuff back in the day, or did they extrapolate the information from film/video someone was able to get their hands on?

[scOtt]

1 hour ago, NashLumber said:

Uppercut advocate from yonder times. 

 

I have a picture from the HOF of the real one with colored baseballs. I have a pic of Shoeless Joe's shoes too!

[scOtt]

6 minutes ago, Drifter said:

How did they come up with this? Was someone actually tracking this stuff back in the day, or did they extrapolate the information from film/video someone was able to get their hands on?

No, Ted made it from his mind.

[Frobby]

The Science of Hitting was a great book in which Ted Williams explained all his hitting theories.    I believe he kept notes of how he hit on pitches at every location.    He wouldn't swing at strikes in the zones where he hit below his average, unless there were two strikes.   Kind've like Adam Jones.

[El Gordo]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

The Science of Hitting was a great book in which Ted Williams explained all his hitting theories.    I believe he kept notes of how he hit on pitches at every location.    He wouldn't swing at strikes in the zones where he hit below his average, unless there were two strikes.   Kind've like Adam Jones.

Wasn't it Luke Scott who would keep notes on his AB?

[TouchemAll]

18 hours ago, Lucky_13 said:

What I don't get is why he changed his approach so drastically. He hit 30+ homers the last 2 years while having a much more sound approach at the plate. Makes no sense.

He watches Jones too much.