Craig Counsell running out of gas?

[Funketown]

Remember that one time Counsell lead off an inning with a triple? Argument ended.

[jhart05]

Hey, I thought the old man didn't have it anymore. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[ilovebeer]

not tonight!

[rluzinski]

But Counsell has a career 10.8% BB%. For somebody to reach that career BB% simply due to variation would be absurd. How can you possibly not attribute this skill to him?

 

Edit: For comparison, Ryan Theriot has an 8.2% BB%. That's a significant difference given the number of plate appearances each player has.

Point taken, but I think Counsell has maintained a rather high rate of BB due to the fact that his overall swing rate is lower than average, while his swing and miss rate is quite low. I would think that guys who swing less would walk more, so they do play a part in the equation- however, I still would place most of the blame on the pitchers inability to throw strikes. Obviously, both the hitter and pitcher play some role in drawing walks, but because there are so many different factors it's impossible to quantify a 'ratio of responsibility'.

 

At any rate, these sorts of arguments are why I love baseball.

Walk rate is not simply inversely proportional to swing rate. It just isn't.

Obviously, both the hitter and pitcher play some role in drawing walks, but because there are so many different factors it's impossible to quantify a 'ratio of responsibility

It's impossible to perfectly quantify it but there are numerous statistical tools to estimate it. Not surprisingly, the batter and pitcher both play a huge role in determining walk rates. Most people stopped believing what you believe about 20 years ago.

 

[PrinceEatMeat]

I think it's time to start getting Counsell some more regular at-bats. He usually seems to play better when he gets in the lineup more often.