Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 22, 2005
OBA Confusion

Scott Miller writes an interesting article about the difference in offensive approach between the Angels and the Athletics.

While the Angels ranked 14th in the AL and 28th in baseball last year with 450 walks, Oakland was third in the AL and fifth in the majors with 608.

Yet, in on-base percentage, while Oakland ranked fifth in the AL and ninth in the majors at .343, the Angels were right with them -- sixth in the AL and 13th in the majors at .341. And on the final weekend of the season, the Swingin' Angels won the first two games of a series in Oakland to steal the division title.

As you read the whole article, Miller confuses walks and OBA. While drawing a lot of walks helps a team have a high OBA, it's not the only way to achieve a high OBA. The Angels strike out the least of any team in the AL; the more balls you put into play, the more are going to get through for hits (Ichiro is the single player example of this).

It doesn't matter how you get on base, as long as you get on base. And there's no doubt that hits are a superior way of getting on base because they can move other runners long distances, and often put the batter beyond first base. My problem with teams and players who don't walk is that they have a weakness that potentially can be exploited. That's what happened in the ALDS. The Angels struck out 28 times in three games because the Red Sox were able to exploit that weakness.

The Angels have a perfectly legitimate approach to offense that works just fine. A good pitching staff, however, can exploit their aggressiveness and get them to swing at lousy pitches.


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Posted by David Pinto at 08:49 PM | On Base | TrackBack (1)
Comments

The same thing can be said about a walk heavy approach. A staff that pounds the strike zone takes away a major part of an A's style offense. Not saying one is better or worse, but if you are one-dimensional in your approach, a good staff will exploit you no matter what your approach is.

Posted by: Man of Leisure at March 23, 2005 04:27 AM
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