Spring Training 101: Why Spring Stats Are Meaningless

I still like to see the Cubs beat the Sox. No matter what time of year it is.

when you refer to minor leaguers as scrubs. These kid worked hard to get where they are today. They deserve our respect. I hope there is no offense taken, but I had to speak my mind.

This year’s Spring Training season is WAY too long.

…it reminded me of the friendly bet a few seasons ago between our two fair sites. Did the RR blogger ever keep his word true about acquiring and taking a picture of him wearing the BCB shirt? I’m sure we could gather some donations to help make it happen….

work on minor things in their swings during spring training and give away some AB’s just to satisfy a hitting coach who wants to tweak an approach. Pitchers may not throw a particular pitch (especially starters) and may focus on improving a pitch or throwing something different in the count. this also affects a hitter who may sit on a fastball because they know that is what is being thrown Final scores are very deceptive I agree. Even with what I said, I tend to look and see what our 25 man roster is doing, hitting stats and pitching stats, more than anything. Next, I look at what a rookie may be doing, especially those that are getting a lot of spring chances, knowing that they could be a surprise roster filler or a call-up at mid season due to injury. When Angel Guzman was 19 he pitched a lot during spring training and opened a lot of eyes. We’re still following him to see if he is going to make it!

That these games mean nothing. Although I do put a bit more emphasis on the last week to week and a half of games. By then, the regulars are playing a lot more, against the other team’s regulars. It’s always nice to see us playing well at the end of ST and carrying it over into the new season.

is a glorified batting practice for hitters.

I know in the past, not sure if it still rings true, but pitchers would be told “go out there and throw breaking pitches ONLY” by a coach so they can evaluate his breaking pitches. A batter can easily catch on and rake hits all over.

The one stat that IMO does matter in ST is fielding. A screaming line drive, hard hit grounder, or a bunt does not become easier or harder to field.

but the intra-squad competition for roster spots is as real as it gets, imo…

are certain game situations that come up. Runner on second, nobody out….can the hitter get the runner over to third? Runner on third, one out, can the batter hit a fly ball deep enough to score the run? I also like to watch the starting pitcher, and then the closer, who usually follows the starting pitcher in about the third or fourth inning so he can face Major League hitters. Basically the first four innings or so are where it’s interesting to watch. After that, it gets much more tedious.

And keep in mind that the players are working on things as well — which means they will perform differently than they would in a “real” game.

I’m reminded of a Maddux quote from (I don’t remember it exactly, just the gist of if). In effect, what he said was that he’ll go out of his way to pitch various batters differently in spring training, than he will during the regular season because the results don’t matter! IIRC, he referred to a batter in particular in the interview (Bagwell maybe) and how on a 3-2 count, runners on, in ST, he hung a curveball to him that he knew would get belted. Bagwell homered, sure enough. Come the regular season in a similar circumstance, Maddux knew that Bagwell would be looking for that same curveball so he painted the corner with a fastball and stuck him out.

Just an instance of some of the mind games that go on during these exhibitions. Other players too have discussed how they’ll approach the game differently — whether it’s purposely trying to used a specific pitch, or hit the ball the other way — regardless of what the situation dictates.

Just need to keep in mind that in these games, the players are playing to get ready for the season and NOT TO WIN, and so the measures of success are different.

Never heard of it.

Spring Training Win/Loss records are meaningless to me, I posted that comment yesterday after the Sox won their second straight meaningless game over the Cubbies.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that ST stats are meaningless though. They’re not the end all, but they’re not meaningless – I’d say they need to be properly weighed.

If you’re a young player trying to impress, ST stats are not meaningless. If you’re an older player trying to win a spot with a big league club, ST stats are not meaningless.

Over at your SB Nation cohorts Royals Review there is a thought provoking commentary on Spring Training Stats. I agree with what the writer said here:

This isn’t to say that spring training performance is necessarily irrelevant. Players’ skills and tools can change from year to year, particularly with the improvement of younger players and the deterioration of older players. Managers, coaches and front office personnel spend several weeks with these players, monitoring and evaluating them. They will see (or at least attempt to determine) if a pitcher has added velocity, added or improved a pitch or changed his mechanics to improve his control. They will see if a hitter’s pitch recognition has improved, if he’s hitting the ball with more power or if an older player has lost a step. But these evaluations cannot made in a meaningful and reliable way by use of spring training statistics for the above reasons. Close observation and tools-based evaluation on a daily basis is necessary to see if a player’s tools have improved or declined. Certainly those observations can have important consequences to a variety of player personnel decisions.