re: LSU is the best fielding team in the country

quote:

---

I’m not saying a K is an extra PO to the 27 per 9 innings. You’re looking to argue over a little word. A K is an easier putout than balls in play. My comment about extra 20 putouts was not saying extra to the 27 per 9 innings. My point has and will remain having a high K number from your pitching staff helps the fielding %.

---

I agree that a K is an easier putout, but I think you’re overestimating the impact incremental changes in the number of strikeouts really has on FPct. There is roughly 1 assist per 2 non-K putouts. To simplify the comparison, let’s assume a team has 9 K, 18 other PO, 9 A and 1 E every 9 defensive innings. That’s an FPct of 36/37 = .973. Now, let’s assume that the number of K’s increases to 10.8 per 9, which reduces other chances by 10%. That 1.8 increase in K’s per game is a little bit more than the incremental change for LSU this year. In any case, the 10% reduction in non-K chances reduces errors by 0.1 per 9 and assists by 0.9 per 9 assuming the team otherwise fields the same. Now the FPct is 35.2/36.1 = .975. The incremental change in K’s only makes a 2 point impact on FPct. It’s not nothing, but it certainly does very little to explain the improvement in FPct for LSU.

What I like so far is that are pitchers for the most part are throwing strikes and that tends to help a defense. If you are not walking people then you are giving your defense a chance instead of them getting cold and plying out of positions because runners on base

quote:

---

When you strike a lot of guys out that also helps the defensive statistics.

---

Striking out guys doesn't give you a higher fielding percentage. It just gives you fewer chances.

LSU's improvement is astounding and yet simple. They finally decided to focus on it. It's all about mindset and willingness to do the extra work to refine the fundamentals of fielding. That has clearly not been pushed enough in Jay's career, just looking at his history of defensive stats, but last year seems to have made him take notice and take it very seriously. The team has responded beautifully.