Forget the negativity, here's why to get excited

[endaround]

Less. The idea isn't to walk, its to swing at pitches you can hit. Almost no one can hit pitches that are balls hard. Vlad use to be able to but then he actually had a good eye and would lay of pitches he couldn't do much with. This is a huge skill, basically a major league player needs to decide to swing based on the ball like 6 inches from release and base it on spin and projected trajectory.

[RockCoCougars]

In my opinion, it takes no real skill whatsoever to walk. Obviously, it's the trendy thing with OBP and Moneyball, but walks are a product of the pitcher throwing strikes.

How do you explain someone like Craig Counsell having a good walk rate then? Or Daric Barton, or Nick Johnson, or Scott Hatteberg, or any other hitter with a good eye/low power combo? Having good plate discipline is definitely a skill, and it's one of the most important skills a player can have.

Some guys just take more pitches than others. I guarantee you that if I told every hitter not to take the bat off their shoulder until a strike is called that their walk rates would increase. At the same time, a good question would be whether their OBP would increase. If a guy lets hittable pitches go by in an attempt to walk, that would seem counterproductive. At the same time, a guy who is able to work the count and be in a position to get a good pitch to hit should be an advantage. I'd be interested to see how a hitter's walk rate correlates with their batting average and home runs.

[brettac1]

What end is saying is right... The idea is to get a pitch you can hit into play (or hopefully over the fence) with authority. Sometimes you don't get them and you K. Sometimes guys get them and swing and miss (Adam Dunn, Branyan, etc.). The ability to wait for that pitch is what seperates good hitters from bad ones, generally speaking.

[ELCABALLO45]

That was with an unsustainable (even if measured correctly) 17.8 runs from defense.

In 08 he played in 153 games for the Twins. So I guess it was?

[HiAndTight]

Why bat Rickie 5th? Isn't he going to be a better 3 hitter with his speed and obp? Depending on who replaces Prince in 2011, it seems logical for Rickie to 3rd and Braun 4th.

Yeah, that works just fine as well. I was simply talking about this years lineup. I actually think they'll just keep him as the leadoff hitter, but 3, 4, 5....he'll work anywhere IMO if he produces like he did last year.

[joepepsi]

I guarantee you that if I told every hitter not to take the bat off their shoulder until a strike is called that their walk rates would increase.

If this were true then pitchers would have the highest OBP in the majors.

 

If a batter never swings in the majors they will soon be striking out every appearance. It won't take long to figure out the guy won't swing at strikes. That's why even when pitchers bat they will swing at pitches.

[brewcrew1020]

I guarantee you that if I told every hitter not to take the bat off their shoulder until a strike is called that their walk rates would increase.

If this were true then pitchers would have the highest OBP in the majors.

 

If a batter never swings in the majors they will soon be striking out every appearance. It won't take long to figure out the guy won't swing at strikes. That's why even when pitchers bat they will swing at pitches.

I believe you missed the point RockCo was trying to make, obviously the batter would swing after taking a strike, not just stand up there and watch every pitch.

 

If a batter takes until he gets a strike the chance of getting ahead in the count would increase compared to not taking until you get a strike. It seems pretty cut and dry that making the pitcher throw a strike before swinging would increase the odds of getting a walk.

[endaround]

No it doesn't. As soon as its out a player takes until he gets a strike (like 3 games) he'll get a strike 1st pitch all the time. Not a meatball but a definite strike.