Cubs manager Maddon not concerned about low batting averages
As a baseball statistic, batting average is going the way of the pitcher win.
That is to say it's being relied on less to determine the true worth of a baseball player.
Stats such as on-base percentage, on-base plus slugging (OPS), weighted on-base (wOBA) and others have pushed batting average down in the batting order.
That's not to say batting average is going down without a fight. A .300 hitter is still revered, and batting average still is a component of the Triple Crown, along with home runs and RBI, another stat that has come under siege. But that's a story for another day.
Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon recently held court on the topic of batting average while noting that several key members of his team had less than hefty averages. Entering Friday's series opener in Atlanta, Anthony Rizzo's batting average is .259. Addison Russell is at .232, Jason Heyward at .226 and Miguel Montero checks in at .204.
Even so, the Cubs sport a record of 41-17, and their run differential is a staggering plus-149. The Cubs were second in the National League in runs scored, second in OBP and first in walks taken as they enjoyed a day off Thursday.
The National League batting average was .250 heading into Thursday's action. Going back to 2000, the NL average was .266. In 2005, it was .262. Five years later, in 2010, the NL batting average was .255.
As Maddon sees things, it's becoming harder and harder to hit for a high batting average.
"I immediately think about heavy-pull left-handed hitters, that their numbers have been impacted by shifts," Maddon said, referring to the practice of infields overloading fielders to one side of the diamond, especially against left-handed hitters. "I think batting averages have plummeted based on data defensively as well as data that a pitcher can utilize. That kind of information was not as abundant in years past.
"I've talked about this where the decline in offense or batting averages is really related to the proliferation of data and video and the ability to put your guys where you want to (on defense). And then beyond that, pitchers and specialization of pitchers, where they still throw 95 (mph) in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning.
"You have all these factors working against the hitter. I think to just look at batting average as being all encompassing, it can't be because you're really at a disadvantage based on the things I'm just talking about, especially if you're a guy who's been trained to hit the ball a certain way that can be guarded against more easily."
Maddon has a point, or several points.
Any fan can go online and find out where a batter hits the ball by viewing "spray charts." Even the most casual observer can see where a hitter's "hot" or "cold" zones are on pitched balls by looking at readily available charts.
Imagine what baseball teams, with advance scouts, video technology and proprietary information, can do to stop hitters.
Not only that, but as Maddon mentioned, when a starting pitcher is lifted after 5 or 6 innings, the relievers coming in out of the bullpen often throw blue-flame heat.
While all this is going on, there has been little in the way of advancement to help the hitter in recent decades. The late Tony Gwynn would study video of pitchers all day, helping him to hit for a lifetime batting average of .338 - including a .372 in 1997 - but the game is tilted in favor of the defense anyway, with nine fielders against one hitter.
"So there are so many advantages that go into that side where the hitter doesn't have any," Maddon said. "I'm telling you, they don't. We're trying to do these different things to help you react better and make better decisions earlier. Still you might hit the ball on the nose and it's going to be right at somebody.
"The guy that really invents the next trick thing that really provides aid to to the hitter … it hasn't come yet."
On the very day Maddon talked about batting average, Rizzo hit a ball up the middle, normally a base hit, but the Arizona Diamondbacks had a player stationed right there, and Rizzo was an easy out.
"Whatever Riz is hitting right now, easily add 25 points, easily, maybe 30 points without a shift or without center fielders playing in the right spot or the pitchers absolutely knowing where they want to pitch just based on information," Maddon said. "Advance scouts of yesteryear could not provide the kind of data or information to a pitching coach or pitcher in advance like you're able to do now just by utilizing video technology."
So what can hitters do? Oftentimes, Rizzo will lay down a bunt to the third-base side and get a base hit. But Maddon, like most managers, doesn't want that too often from a power hitter.
"I don't mind the bunt," Maddon said. "I think that should still be taught to these guys. If you need to start an inning and we're down by 3 runs, go ahead and put the bunt down. Why not? One out, runner on first base, if they want to shift for the double play, that's a really good time for me for a lefty to put it down there, if he chose to. Of course, two outs, you don't want to do that. Every game situation, the scoreboard tells you what you want to do."
To change hitters' approaches altogether, according to Maddon, is impractical at the big-league level.
"It's really hard to make that adjustment here," he said. "I don't care if you're 22 or 24 or 25, if you've been trained to hit the ball a certain way to this point, to get a guy to do something different I think it could actually be a detriment, and I've seen it. I've gone through that with some other prolific pull left-handed hitters who all of a sudden tried to be this other thing. They lose their power. They lose their ability to drive the ball the other way. They lose that dangerous component to their hitting."
The only other way, it seems, to help the hitter would be through legislation: outlawing shifting altogether, lowering the pitcher's mound or altering the strike zone, the most likely near-term adjustment.
In the meantime, hitters will just have to grin and bear it, and Maddon will hope his team can continue to score runs with a combination of patience at the plate, grinding out at-bats, accepting walks and finding multiple ways to get runners home.
"I don't get caught up in that batting-average number because I've seen all these other things play - back to the point of seeing pitches, getting on base, scoring runs," Maddon said. "The objective is to get more runs on a nightly basis as opposed to more hits.
"Sometimes the better object is not to make an out."
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Scouting report
Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves at Turner Field
TV: Comcast SportsNet Friday and Saturday; WGN Sunday
Radio: WSCR 670 AM
Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Jason Hammel (7-1) vs. Bud Norris (1-7) Friday at 6:35 p.m.; Jake Arrieta (9-1) vs. Matt Wisler (2-6) Saturday at 3:10 p.m.; Jon Lester (7-3) vs. TBD Sunday at 12:35 p.m.
At a glance: The Cubs and Braves split a pair of games during a rain-shortened series at Wrigley Field April 29-May 1. Since then, the Braves fired manager Fredi Gonzalez and replaced him with interim boss Brian Snitker. The Braves (17-42) are dead last in the NL East, and they're 6-23 at home. Freddie Freeman leads an anemic Atlanta offense at .250/.345/.431, with 9 of the team's 23 home runs. The Braves entered Thursday last in runs scored, home runs and batting average. Their 4.46 ERA ranked 11th in the NL. The Cubs were second in runs scored and on-base percentage and first in walks heading into Thursday's off-day. The team ERA of 2.56 was best in the NL. This will be the Cubs' last series at Turner Field. The Braves are moving to the Atlanta suburbs next year.
Next: Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Monday-Wednesday
- Bruce Miles