We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’

The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’

2025/4/20
logo of podcast The Daily

The Daily
AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
B
Ben Charrington
B
Bruce Schoenfeld
C
Craig Council
D
Daniel Bard
D
Derek Shelton
J
Jack Morris
L
Lance Lynn
L
Logan Gilbert
M
Marcus Simeon
M
Max Scherzer
M
Mike Fitzgerald
P
Paul Skeens
R
Rob Manfred
Topics
Bruce Schoenfeld: 我长期关注棒球运动，最近的研究发现，数据分析导致先发投手投球局数减少，对明星球员出场机会造成影响。先发投手投球对身体造成巨大压力，需要时间恢复，但恢复时间长短尚无定论。数据分析主导下的棒球策略，导致先发投手在关键时刻被提前换下，即使是无安打比赛，也经常在第七局之后就被换下。数据分析导致棒球明星球员，如先发投手，出场时间减少，影响球迷观赛体验。 Paul Skeens: 即使像我这样优秀的投手，现在每场比赛的投球数也受到限制，通常不会超过100球。 Marcus Simeon: 在比赛后期，救援投手通常比先发投手更有优势。 Craig Council: 为了保护球员健康，即使是无安打比赛，也应该在适当时候换下先发投手。 Derek Shelton: 决定是否让先发投手继续比赛，需要综合考虑比赛局势、投手压力和救援投手状态等多种因素。 Rob Manfred: 先发投手出场时间缩短，影响球迷的观赛体验和对比赛的期待。 Mike Fitzgerald: 棒球界普遍接受先发投手存在体力极限，但对这个极限的具体界定存在争议。 Lance Lynn: 数据分析主导下，先发投手的投球表现，无论多么出色，都会被提前换下。 Max Scherzer: 数据分析主导下的棒球策略，限制了先发投手的发挥，使比赛缺乏戏剧性，也导致先发投手难以创造辉煌的职业成就。数据分析主导下的棒球策略，导致先发投手无法完成更多局数的比赛。为了让先发投手有更多出场时间，应该采取激励和惩罚相结合的措施。棒球管理层对先发投手出场时间问题缺乏重视。 Jack Morris: 数据分析主导下的棒球策略，扼杀了先发投手的伟大之处。 Logan Gilbert: 为了避免被击球，投手会在领先的情况下故意投出一些偏离好球区的球，这会增加投球数，影响其完成更多局数比赛的能力。 Daniel Bard: 在棒球选秀和职业生涯发展中，高频率的投手三振是关键因素，但这会影响其完成更多局数比赛的能力。 Ben Charrington: 球探模型对Paul Skeens的评价不断提升，最终将其选为状元秀。Paul Skeens展现出不同于其他投手的优秀能力，最终被选中。Paul Skeens的成长经历不同于其他投手，这可能导致他具备更强的能力。Paul Skeens有潜力成为像老一辈先发投手一样耐力出色的球员。 supporting_evidences Paul Skeens: 'The fact that they let me go 100 in Chicago...' Marcus Simeon: 'They all throw 100 with a wipeout slider...' Craig Council: 'In the heat of the moment, it feels short-term...' Derek Shelton: 'But he cautions that several variables need to line up for that to occur...' Rob Manfred: 'To the extent that there's an erosion in the significance of that starter position...' Mike Fitzgerald: 'There's already some inherent acceptance in our game...' Lance Lynn: 'They're trying to get you out of the game as quick as they can...' Max Scherzer: 'I can't stand the direction of the game...' Jack Morris: 'I'm saddened by it...' Logan Gilbert: 'You're going out of the zone, in the dirt...' Daniel Bard: 'That's what gets you drafted high...' Ben Charrington: 'If you asked me in March or early April...'

Deep Dive

Chapters
The article examines how the increased use of analytics in baseball has shortened the length of starting pitchers' outings, even for exceptional talents like Paul Skenes. Despite Skenes' impressive debut, he was pulled early from a game, highlighting the conflict between analytics and traditional baseball values.
  • Paul Skenes' remarkable debut, striking out the first seven batters.
  • Analytics-driven decisions lead to early removal of starting pitchers, even those with no-hitters in progress.
  • The conflict between data-driven strategies and the desire for exciting, longer pitching performances.

Shownotes Transcript

One day at** **Wrigley Field in Chicago last May, Paul Skenes was pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, carving out a small piece of baseball history in his second big-league game. He struck out the first seven batters he faced. By the end of the fifth inning, he had increased his strikeout total to 10. More impressive, he hadn’t allowed a hit.

Over the past two decades, analysts have identified a treasure trove of competitive advantages for teams willing to question baseball’s established practices.

Perhaps the most significant of competitive advantages was hidden in plain sight, at the center of the diamond. Starting pitchers were traditionally taught to conserve strength so they could last deep into games. Throwing 300 innings in a season was once commonplace; in 1969 alone, nine pitchers did it. But at some definable point in each game, the data came to reveal, a relief pitcher becomes a more effective option than the starter, even if that starter is Sandy Koufax or Tom Seaver — or Paul Skenes.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts) or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.