Just a couple of weeks ago, as I was watching an ESPN broadcast of a baseball game, former ace Curt Schilling talked about the Kansas City Royals, how they relied too much on speed, and that speed doesn't result in victories come playoff time. Immediately as I heard this, I shook my head and likely provided a confused expression only a mother could love. I later talked to my father about the matter, and with which he agreed, I said that I felt speed was one of the most underutilized and effective tools come playoff time.
The fact of the matter is, over the course of a 162-game season, great pitching usually wins over great hitting. This year, eight of the top twelve teams in ERA made the playoffs, with the only outliers being the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at #15 (3.58) and the Detroit Tigers at #24 (4.01). Besides those two, the other playoff teams ranked as follows in that category: #1 Washington (3.03), #3 Oakland (3.22), #6 LA Dodgers (3.40), #7 Baltimore (3.47), #8 Pittsburgh (3.48), #10 San Francisco (3.50), #11 St. Louis (3.50), and #12 Kansas City (3.51). So, come playoff time, the best pitching staffs typically face one another and lower scores come as a result of that. Due to this, while power hitters can end the game with one swing of the bat, most power hitters also strike out a great deal, so if they square off against a great pitcher, the pitcher will likely have the upper-hand going into the at-bat. Due to this, games are often times won by manufacturing runs, and speed can play a huge factor in doing that. In a 1-1 or 2-2 game, all that's needed, if a team has a great deal of speed, is a base hit. That player can then steal second base, get bunted over to third, and score on a sacrifice fly, which could ultimately be the game-winner. A speedy base-runner can also distract the pitcher or catcher enough to the point where the pitcher misses to a power-hitter, who knocks the ball out of the park, or the catcher lets a ball slip by him which allows the base-runner to move up 90 feet.
Just look at last night's game. The Oakland Athletics led the Kansas City Royals by the score of 7-3 going to the bottom of the 8th inning. It was at this point when the Royals started utilizing their speed to the fullest, by getting on base, stealing bases, bunting for base hits or sacrifices, and finding a way to sneak back into the game, before finally winning 9-8 in the 12th inning. For the game, Kansas City stole seven bases, which were stolen by seven different players. It was the main reason why they ended up winning the contest and moving onto the divisional round of the playoffs. Playoff baseball is different than regular season baseball. Playoff baseball is about great pitching, solid defense, and manufacturing runs on offense. If a team is solid with both their pitching and defense and has solid contact hitters with speed on offense, I'll take that any day over a team with good pitching, good defense, and all-or-nothing power-hitters on offense.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching/year/2014/seasontype/2
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=340930107
The fact of the matter is, over the course of a 162-game season, great pitching usually wins over great hitting. This year, eight of the top twelve teams in ERA made the playoffs, with the only outliers being the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at #15 (3.58) and the Detroit Tigers at #24 (4.01). Besides those two, the other playoff teams ranked as follows in that category: #1 Washington (3.03), #3 Oakland (3.22), #6 LA Dodgers (3.40), #7 Baltimore (3.47), #8 Pittsburgh (3.48), #10 San Francisco (3.50), #11 St. Louis (3.50), and #12 Kansas City (3.51). So, come playoff time, the best pitching staffs typically face one another and lower scores come as a result of that. Due to this, while power hitters can end the game with one swing of the bat, most power hitters also strike out a great deal, so if they square off against a great pitcher, the pitcher will likely have the upper-hand going into the at-bat. Due to this, games are often times won by manufacturing runs, and speed can play a huge factor in doing that. In a 1-1 or 2-2 game, all that's needed, if a team has a great deal of speed, is a base hit. That player can then steal second base, get bunted over to third, and score on a sacrifice fly, which could ultimately be the game-winner. A speedy base-runner can also distract the pitcher or catcher enough to the point where the pitcher misses to a power-hitter, who knocks the ball out of the park, or the catcher lets a ball slip by him which allows the base-runner to move up 90 feet.
Just look at last night's game. The Oakland Athletics led the Kansas City Royals by the score of 7-3 going to the bottom of the 8th inning. It was at this point when the Royals started utilizing their speed to the fullest, by getting on base, stealing bases, bunting for base hits or sacrifices, and finding a way to sneak back into the game, before finally winning 9-8 in the 12th inning. For the game, Kansas City stole seven bases, which were stolen by seven different players. It was the main reason why they ended up winning the contest and moving onto the divisional round of the playoffs. Playoff baseball is different than regular season baseball. Playoff baseball is about great pitching, solid defense, and manufacturing runs on offense. If a team is solid with both their pitching and defense and has solid contact hitters with speed on offense, I'll take that any day over a team with good pitching, good defense, and all-or-nothing power-hitters on offense.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching/year/2014/seasontype/2
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=340930107
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