By Mike Steffanos March 5, 2021
It wasn't all that long ago that I didn't spend any of my time pondering the finer points of pitchers' spin rates or batters' launch angles. I think about them a lot lately. It's not that these are recent innovations in baseball. We've understood for a long time that the ability to impart spin on a baseball caused the ball to move in some combination of the horizontal and verticle axes, dependent on the spin. This, in turn, makes the pitches more difficult for the hitter to square up. We've also known that home run hitters incorporated an uppercut in their swings to hit more balls in the air and, hopefully, out of the park.
It's been a confluence of circumstances that have brought these concepts to the forefront in today's game. The state-of-the-art technology used to track what hitters and pitchers are doing is so much better than years ago when the experienced eye of coaches and some film or video was all that was available. It's a lot easier for pitchers to work on getting more spin on their pitches or batters to fine-tune their swing, thanks to the immediate feedback the new technology provides.
The "launch angle" concept also benefits from the relative ease in hitting home runs in Major League Baseball compared to the "olden times" of my youth. Players are bigger and stronger, the ballparks built over the past three decades have trended smaller and more hitter-friendly, and the baseball itself has been reengineered to fly further. Pitcher velocity is way up from where it was back a few decades, leading to a huge increase in strikeouts. Offense is somewhat down, making it harder to score runs based on stringing hits together, as does the dramatic defensive shifting. It's easier to beat a shift by hitting over it rather than through it.
Home runs have always been fun to watch, at least when your team is hitting them. The top power hitters will always be fan favorites and, because of that, valued higher and paid more. Amateur players who display power will be drafted higher and paid more. Former Met Justin Turner transformed his career from borderline Major Leaguer to highly-paid power hitter by incorporating the latest thinking regarding launch angle into his game.
When baseball swings were more level, pitchers limited home runs by pitching down in the zone. For someone with a level swing, low pitches were far less likely to be elevated out of the ballpark. With the emphasis on launch angle now, that's changed. Low pitches are much more likely to be hit out of the ballpark now, especially if the pitcher misses even slightly up.
On the other hand, launch angle hitters tend to be very vulnerable higher up in the strike zone. Uppercut swings and high fastballs don't lead to solid contact. Nowadays, pitchers are trained to throw 4-seam fastballs up with as much spin as they can impart on them. Even a pitcher like Marcus Stroman, who has built a successful Major League career out of a terrific hard sinking fastball, has worked on making his 4-seamer up in the zone a weapon.
I've been thinking quite a lot in recent years about baseball trends. It's no secret that MLB is concerned that the game has evolved into a somewhat boring mix of strikeouts, walks, and home runs. Many minutes of game time go by without balls put in play. I wait and wait for something to happen. Finally, my team's left-handed power hitter crushes a line drive into right field. My heart rate elevates as I anticipate a baserunner for my team. However, that hope is quickly dashed when the second baseman, stationed in short right field thanks to a defensive shift, easily plays the ball for an out.
The very next inning, my hopes rise once again when my team loads the bases with no outs on a couple of singles and a walk. I'm dreaming for that big hit to break the game open, but I'll settle for a fly ball or grounder to the right side that will at least plate a run. Instead, the next two players strike out, taking all of the air out of the inning. The threat dies when the next batter hits a fly ball that would have been productive had there not already been 2 outs.
Maybe my team manages to launch some home runs and win the game. I'll take the "W," but the lack of situational hitting bothers the lifelong baseball fan in me. Besides, I know the inability to master situational hitting will cost my team in the loss column by the end of the season.
The revolution in the hitting approach has certainly produced more home runs. When I was a kid, hitting 20 home runs was an impressive milestone for a batter. Now it's so common. On the other hand, striking out 100 times was considered a failure back then. These days, even the best hitters do it regularly. Mike Trout won the AL MVP three times in 2014, 2016, and 2019. In those MVP-caliber seasons, he struck out 184, 137, and 120 times. Even the greatest players are willing to accept strikeouts as a part of the game.
MLB has made some changes in the baseball and how game balls are stored. These innovations are supposed to eliminate some of the cheap home runs we've been seeing. It remains to be seen how that works out. What seems obvious to me is that it's quite unlikely that home run numbers will get knocked down enough to change the whole launch angle/high 4-seam fastball equation to the extent that the game of baseball will be altered significantly.
If I was a young ballplayer who had a chance at a Major League career, I would utilize a launch angle swing to give myself a greater chance of succeeding and getting a big paycheck. If I was a pitcher, I would throw high-spin 4-seam fastballs up for the same reasons. And if I worked in a Scouting and Development capacity for a Major League team, I would be drafting and coaching based on what is working.
On the other hand, I can't help but question why smart teams aren't going against the grain a bit to combat MLB clubs' tendency to emulate each other. If MLB is likely to be populated by a majority of pitchers featuring high fastballs, shouldn't there at least be room for some players who fall into a more traditional contact hitting role? Now, I wouldn't take a player with 30-40 HR capability and turn him into an opposite-field slap hitter. Imagine, however, that you have a guy with a good eye, superior bat-to-ball skills, and a level swing who lacks home run power. A player such as that might enjoy some success in a game where pitchers have become most comfortable throwing elevated fastballs.
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