Wheels vs. Bats

CAdad,
Figure this one out, second (maybe third) rounder in 2007

161 AB
59 hits
10 2B
2 3B
0 HR
18RBI
16 SO
73 total bases
.366 BA
.453 slg%
.483 OB%

College guy, .366, there's a place in every lineup for a wheels guy. Even if you emphasize pure hitting ability you can use a wheels guy or two in the lineup.

Kind of like the old moneyball arguments. The guys who walk a lot are valuable only if there's somebody in the lineup who'll drive them in. If you've got nine .220 hitters with power you aren't going to score that many runs because they are going to hit mostly solo home runs.

I remember a HS kid who had a pretty decent OB%, almost all on walks. He scored 1 or 2 runs the entire season. Useless offensively. Lot of wheels on that team by the way.

I should have made the point that of course the best lineups are the ones that have a good balance along with a high team BA and Slg%

quote:

Originally posted by CADad:
I should have made the point that of course the best lineups are the ones that have a good balance along with a high team BA and Slg%

The player was lead off, OF, had incredible speed, walked more than anyone I knew and was a pitcher's nightmare, a master at bunting. Was a cape leader the year he attended.

He added incredible value to the team and it's success.

Every type of player brings something special, all coaches run their team differently. The best teams are the balanced teams.

This was all hashed over with "Money ball"

OBP plus Slugging is what matters.

Every coach has a "point of view." Knowing that point of view can make a big difference in how a player is treated, the success or failure they have with that team.

My son just went through a bad experience playing summer ball. The coach thought he was slow so he did not play much, in spite of an OBP% of .500 and a comparable slugging %.

Are there magic numbers? No, but I guarantee you each coach has his point of view and no matter what a kid does, it is likely not to change.

Mine is considered slow by his coach. His 60 times recently have varied from 7.15 to 7.41.

The value of the bats as against the value of wheels is in the coaches mind and how he likes to make up his team


We like bats that can run but we do emphasize speed on the bases and on defense

My son's coach told him "you just think your fast"

Speed is a wonderful thing, but is useless sitting on the bench.

I'm going to make a "NO DUH" statement - I want guys who know the zone and hit the ball hard. If you know the zone your walk totals are going to be up and if you hit the ball hard it will find a place that the defense isn't. So now you got guys on base and they are being knocked in.

I think doubles and singles can do more damage to a pitcher (mentally) than a homerun. If you get an inning where you put together several at bats that end in singles and doubles the pitcher is standing there thinking "when is it going to end". But if he gives up a homerun he can refocus and treat it like a start over. Granted if one of my guys hit a homerun I am going to high five them as they go by me in the 3rd base box and tell them they are the greatest.

I know I took the easy way out but it's true - know
the zone and hit the ball hard - you will win games.

Now in regards to wheels - you can't really teach it and at the high school level you can't recruit it so if you have it great but if you don't then you better find something else that works.

You can teach zone discipline and you can teach hitting but you can't teach a 4.3 40. If you have speed and can get it - use it. If not then teach the game.