Judge and Stanton illustrate just how drastically the game is changing
Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins hit 59 home runs this season, becoming only the sixth player in history to stroke that many in a single season. The Yankees’ Aaron Judge wasn’t far behind with 52.
Both are more than just sluggers. Both play right field for their respective teams because they are blessed with superior throwing arms. That’s the traditional position for an outfielder with an excellent arm.
But they have something else in common and it’s not traditional. They both hit second in their team’s batting order.
Stanton batted second most of the season for the Marlins — 110 games in total. Judge wasn’t moved into that position until September but that’s where he hit during most of the stretch run and in all 13 Yankees postseason games.
Got it? The most productive home run hitters this season and two of the most productive in history each held down the number-two spot in their team’s batting order.
Let’s pause here and give traditionalists a chance to catch their breath.
For the past 100 years the fourth spot in the batting order — the “cleanup position” — usually belonged to the every team’s best home run hitter. In theory the first three batters would get on base and number four man would “clean up” the bases with one mighty swing. Stanton and Judge are prototypical cleanup hitters, but they don’t bat cleanup. They bat second.
Second?
In the traditional lineup the number two slot is filled by a smart “banjo hitter” who can poke the ball to right field. He is the second of the “table setters” at the top of the order. The leadoff man — a speedster who can get on base — precedes him. Ideally the second hitter comes to bat with the leadoff man on first, forcing the first baseman to play on the bag and the middle infielders to play for the double play. This creates a wide gap on the right side of the infield and that’s where the number-two man seeks to hit the ball — and move that leadoff man around to third.
The ideal number two batter seldom hits for power but he possesses great bat control and rarely strikes out.
It appears as though we now have a new set of ideals.
Judge led the majors in strike outs with 208. Stanton, with 163, was among the leaders. Neither will ever be called a table setter or a banjo hitter. Yet two intelligent managers chose to bat them second.
The game has changed — drastically. Home runs and strike outs have been increasing steadily and both occurred at record rates this season. That impacts the strategy.
A strike out is no longer considered a disaster. It’s simply another out. No, it doesn’t advance a base runner, but so what? If somebody hits a home run that runner will score, regardless of which base he happens to occupy. What’s the point, then, in having a bat manipulator or a table setter in the twohole when you can put a masher there instead?
When a player like Stanton or Judge bats second he is certain to come to bat in the first inning. He is likely to come to bat five times during a nine-inning game. That’s using him to his optimum advantage and that’s how baseball is played today.
When the Phillies announced Monday that Gabe Kapler would become their new manager, general manager Matt Klentak emphasized that he was impressed with Kapler’s “progressive thinking” skills. Read “sabermetrics.” Klentak is known to be a strong advocate of sabermetrics — the use of advanced mathematics to formulate baseball strategy — and it isn’t surprising that he chose a manager who apparently concurs.
For example, sabermetrics advocates disdain the use of “small ball,” especially the sacrifice bunt, which they see as counterproductive. They value power but they also value the batter who knows how to draw a walk. They argue that a team’s best relief pitcher should be brought into the game’s most critical situation rather than routinely saved for the ninth inning.
It looks like that philosophy will soon be driving the Phillies. Ten teams have been eliminated from the postseason and three have responded by firing their managers. A fourth kept the manager but changed the entire pitching staff…
of the Dodgers had only two major league hits during the regular season. He already has eight in the post-season and half of them have gone for extra bases…After six World Series games each team had only one stolen base…Cody of the Dodgers has struck out 14 times in 24 World Series at bats, but he still shares the team lead in Series RBIs with five…Each team has yielded only one unearned run…The Astros have won 10 postseason games but the bullpen has been credited with only four saves and those saves
Charlie Culberson Bellinger
have been distributed among three pitchers…Brandon has pitched in every Dodgers postseason games except one…Marwin of the Astros batted .303 during the regular season but his average was only .148 in his first 21 postseason games.
Morrow Gonzalez
Hall of Fame voter Jay Dunn has written baseball for The Trentonian for 49 years. Contact him at jaydunn8@aol.com