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Do the Orioles Need Players with Postseason Experience?

BRobinsonfan

By BRobinsonfan
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BRobinsonfan

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With our second season of postseason futility behind us a number of posts have been made about the need for "players with postseason experience" to variously "calm, lead, guide, motivate," the younger players.  I've often suspected that this [postseason experience] is a much-overblown quality to guide our player acquisition efforts.  I realize the postseason, notably the World Series, is a mighty big stage on which to perform, but, between high school, college, and the minors, most of these players have played in some pretty big games under some significant pressure.  

I finally ran across a data-driven article that set out to answer this question.  Published in 2002 in The Baseball Research Journal, Tom Hanrahan concludes it doesn't matter:  

"Do baseball players fare better in the post-season when they have post-season experience behind them?  My research says the answer is a clear no.  Managers' efforts to build teams with players who 'have been there before' appear to be fruitless ventures, sacrificing money and possibly quality for no apparent gain.'" 

What say you?  Is Hanrahan right?  Or is he all wet and the Orioles should go out and hire some wiley veterans who've "been there before" to get them over the hump?  

https://sabr.org/journal/article/does-experience-help-in-the-postseason/#:~:text=Do baseball players fare better,quality for no apparent gain.

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wildcard Hangout Grand Counsel

wildcard

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16 minutes ago, BRobinsonfan said:

With our second season of postseason futility behind us a number of posts have been made about the need for "players with postseason experience" to variously "calm, lead, guide, motivate," the younger players.  I've often suspected that this [postseason experience] is a much-overblown quality to guide our player acquisition efforts.  I realize the postseason, notably the World Series, is a mighty big stage on which to perform, but, between high school, college, and the minors, most of these players have played in some pretty big games under some significant pressure.  

I finally ran across a data-driven article that set out to answer this question.  Published in 2002 in The Baseball Research Journal, Tom Hanrahan concludes it doesn't matter:  

"Do baseball players fare better in the post-season when they have post-season experience behind them?  My research says the answer is a clear no.  Managers' efforts to build teams with players who 'have been there before' appear to be fruitless ventures, sacrificing money and possibly quality for no apparent gain.'" 

What say you?  Is Hanrahan right?  Or is he all wet and the Orioles should go out and hire some wiley veterans who've "been there before" to get them over the hump?  

https://sabr.org/journal/article/does-experience-help-in-the-postseason/#:~:text=Do baseball players fare better,quality for no apparent gain.

Phillies just got eliminated with tons of postseason experience.

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eddie83 Hangout Grand Counsel

eddie83

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I’ve always had the same belief. 
Experience doesn’t hurt but it’s not a guarantee of anything. Look at that Phillies last 2 games. 
 

I’m not against adding a veteran bat. It “could” be beneficial. At the end of the day these guys simply need to be better in October. Can’t change the narrative until you put yourself back in the playoffs. If the Orioles win the division and lose in the DS round again the narrative doesn’t change. 

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Sports Guy Hangout Grand Counsel

Sports Guy

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Don’t we have a team that is full of playoff experience?

I mean, it’s not a lot of playoff experience but it is experience nonetheless.

The Orioles issues, imo, are mental. Would some vet with 50 games of playoff experience change that?  Maybe? 
 

 

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JR Oriole Major Leaguer

JR Oriole

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So I don't think having a lot of guys with postseason experience is going to necessarily result in October success. There is plenty of evidence of that, as has been noted. But I do think having at least some guys on the roster who have been successful in the past might be helpful.

In the two games we played this October, on offense we only had three players with at-bats who had been on a team that had won a postseason game before.  McCann, Slater, and Rivera. And only one of those guys (Rivera) had been on a team that actually won a playoff series (Arizona won 3 of them last year).  Every other hitter has not even experienced so much as a single victory in the playoffs.  

Now the Tigers players are certainly inexperienced in terms of October baseball just like the Os. But what they do have is A.J. Hinch, who has a ton of experience and success in the postseason (trash can and cheating jokes aside).  Hyde has 0 postseason wins on his ledger, unless you count his tenure as the first base coach for the Cubs when they won.  So the head guy in our dugout and most of our hitters have experienced no postseason success.   

I think it is helpful in really tight, high leverage situations when you have guys who have been there and done that successfully before.  At the very least, it is something to consider.

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Spy Fox Hangout Veteran Council

Spy Fox

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There's also this Szymborski piece from a couple years ago that found that younger teams, not veteran ones, perform slightly better than expected in the playoffs. (And by the way, homer-reliant teams did slightly better than expected in the sample also.)

I wouldn't mind bringing in a playoff vet or two, but not really because I trust them more in the big moment. More that it gives the guys something to say when they are inevitably asked about this. A tool to soften the narrative.

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Tony-OH Hangout Grand Counsel

Tony-OH

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1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Don’t we have a team that is full of playoff experience?

I mean, it’s not a lot of playoff experience but it is experience nonetheless.

The Orioles issues, imo, are mental. Would some vet with 50 games of playoff experience change that?  Maybe? 
 

 

Maybe winning experience?

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  • Posts

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      Do the Orioles Need Players with Postseason Experience?

      By LookitsPuck · Posted

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