Broken Bat - Baseball Forum: Things that are bugging me about baseball...

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Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date	Function

#3275	05/06/2013 10:00:27 pm
OTT9 Joined: 04/21/2013 Posts: 10 Inactive	Perhaps I may be wrong about these things, but... 1. Pitching Statistics. ERA and WHIP aren't bad ways to judge pitchers, but if people tend to judge batters by Average, OBP and Slugging, why do so many people undervalue these same stats for pitchers? If OPS is considered a fair indicator of overall batting skill, surely OPS against would be a decent indicator of overall pitching skill? 2. The designated hitter rule. Professional sports players are already getting paid more than enough money to play without having somebody bat for them or field for them, so why do so many leagues, including the AL, use it? I just think that players should be good at multiple aspects of the game instead of getting in on the basis of being a really good hitter or a really good pitcher. That's just my thoughts anyway... (PS: and yes, I'm also hinting that I'd prefer Broken Bat to not have the DH :P) Updated Monday, May 6 2013 @ 10:04:22 pm PDT

#3276	05/07/2013 7:06:18 am
Mig2012 Joined: 09/26/2012 Posts: 547 Inactive	Funny you mention these things. Just a few days ago I was thinking about the very same thing about pitching statistics, and I couldn’t agree more with you. I too believe OPS against is better as an overall pitching skill indicator than ERA or WHIP. Regarding the DH rule, I don’t have a strong opinion for or against it. I know many defend the game is much more interesting without it, but the truth is without the DH there are fewer runs scores on average, and I guess the scoring part appeals to the general public more than the strategy elements that exist in the game without the DH. I don’t know if it’s because of the DH, but I do find the AL more interesting to follow than the NL. In the future, I don’t see the DH being removed. Right now that’s the only thing distinguishing the AL from NL, which doesn’t make sense because with the interleague play, the teams moving between leagues, it feels more and more like just one league with 6 divisions, MLB. Perhaps what should happen next is for teams, both in AL and NL, to choose what rule they like the most and follow it when they play at home, throughout the season. My guess is if that happens, the DH would become the norm. But I think the major reason why the DH will never go away is because the player’s union will never agree to remove it. That would send a lot of players to an early retirement.