MENDOZA LINE Futility: 2024 White Sox team BA *.189 * (after 24 Games)

Pitchers are really really good. And the White Sox farm system has been awful for years.

Also MLB GM's are trying to find guys that hit for power. The mindset is pitchers are too good to get 3 hits in an inning to score a run so you have to hit doubles/ HRs to score. The downside of that is you strike out a lot and when balls are flying out of the yard, you look awful and comatose. This is what we are seeing across baseball.

The CF/2B who hits for average and 5 HR a year doesn't really exist anymore. Teams would rather have guys that hit .215 with 20 bombs.

I'm not sure I blame them. Pitching has gotten really really good. Every bullpen has guys 97+. Top end starters have 3+ pitchers that are ++. Hitting ain't easy in the big leagues.

quote:

---

The CF/2B who hits for average and 5 HR a year doesn't really exist anymore. Teams would rather have guys that hit .215 with 20 bombs.

---

Exactly.

It's all or nothing. The days of old-school fundamentals hit & run, moving guys over, manufacturing 3-run rallies without a 3-run dinger are over.

The obsession with Home Runs seems to be economic for players (Bigger Contract for 20 HRs > .300, 5 HRs), but not for the Game.

Rhetorical question: How have pitchers suddenly become this dominating not to allow hits strung out in one inning?

quote:

---

Baseball desperately needs to go to the NFL model and force teams to work with a cap and make it a more competitive league

---

It might help make MLB more competitive...

....but doesn't a Salary Cap revert the the arrangement back to Owners profiting again $$ billions now at stake) with players back at their mercy as pre-1980s instead of letting market have its way?

MLB seems broken by more than a few metrics.

Fun fact: The Mendoza Line is quoted at .200 but his actual career batting average was .215, so the Twins are also below the line.

Cardinals offense isn’t much better. They’re 25th overall in OPS.

LaTech 's coach was asked about the large number of hit batsmen in CUSA, and said guys are learning how to throw hard, but not necessarily how to pitch.

quote:

---

LaTech 's coach was asked about the large number of hit batsmen in CUSA, and said guys are learning how to throw hard, but not necessarily how to pitch.

---

This is another part of the puzzle.

The past way a pitcher was developed was that they had to pitch competitive baseball without dominant velo. They had to rely on off speed pitches, mainly curve ball and change-up, to keep hitters off balance and fill up the zone to stay ahead of hitters. So when they matured and their body let them have overpowering velo, they knew how to fill up the zone and keep hitters off balance with multiple pitches. They also had "feel". They weren't so mechanically built that they knew how to make adjustments on the fly. Everything wasn't so mechanically driven.

Now days kids have overpowering velo from a younger age. They rely on the fastball only. Off speed is attempted to be developed at a later age. It lags behind. Also pitchers a lot of times have no feel. When they are missing the zone with the fastball, they look towards mechanical issues instead of making natural adjustments.

Example: Kid misses up 4 times in a row. Their mind goes to a list of mechanical issues (plant foot placement, upper body rotation, back hip hinge) instead of mentally just trying to aim lower. This is a result of years of lesson in an environment where every mistake is coached mechanically with no batter or strike zone. I call this "being made in a lab".

You see this across high school and college. You always hear about the guy with crazy velo but can't throw enough strikes. They are recruited because they were seen throwing 90+ in a travel ball tournament on a Saturday with no pressure and offered on the spot.

The sad thing is, location and movement are both more important than velocity.