High school stats question

[nixxy311]

So during DD's last season - she kept wavering between not coming back for her senior season of SB. A bunch of girls on the team were talking about not coming back as well. But we figured if some girls did, they would encourage the others girl to do it. We were okay if she didn't but we really didn't want her to regret not doing it later on. She said she'd see how her exit meeting went and make her decision then. Since things are so hit or miss with her HC. So exit meeting went well - he had good things to say and improvements. So she said she was going to come back for her last season.

So I keep the books and I know everyone's stats of course. And obv I know DD's stats well. So the previous year - her first year on varsity - she struck out 10 times and that was not even playing every game. And that is kind of a lot for her. This season, she struck out only 1 time and this was while starting in all but 2 games.

So during the meeting where he prints out their stats - he actually circled the only 1 strike out - and seemed very surprised and if he had known he would have batted her higher in the lineup - she did make it as far as 5th in the lineup this season but there are still better hitters than her so I wasn't surprised.

So as a coach - is this something you just don't notice? Like the better hitters - actually struck out the most on the team but they also hit more HRs. He said he wasn't super concerned with stats at the start of the year but clearly if he prints them out for their exit meetings, he does look at them. Do coaches ever use the stats to determine lineups or do they just go by feel? If someone isn't hitting well at all would that ever be a reason to DH for them if they have to be in the game for defense? We had one girl who made a ton of errors but power hitter and a pitcher who wasn't a great hitter. That would have been the perfect combo for DH/Flex. He did DH the bad fielder but always used a different person to Flex for her. And let the girl who couldn't hit bat every game. When does actual performance matter over assumed protentional?

 

[_MIA_]

Before you assume the coach doesn’t know what they are doing list out the OPS for each position in the order and report back…

 

[tim_s]

Before you assume the coach doesn’t know what they are doing list out the OPS for each position in the order and report back…

this

.OPS and .OBP are keys for me........

 

[Eric F]

So as a coach - is this something you just don't notice? Like the better hitters - actually struck out the most on the team but they also hit more HRs. He said he wasn't super concerned with stats at the start of the year but clearly if he prints them out for their exit meetings, he does look at them. Do coaches ever use the stats to determine lineups or do they just go by feel? If someone isn't hitting well at all would that ever be a reason to DH for them if they have to be in the game for defense? We had one girl who made a ton of errors but power hitter and a pitcher who wasn't a great hitter. That would have been the perfect combo for DH/Flex. He did DH the bad fielder but always used a different person to Flex for her. And let the girl who couldn't hit bat every game. When does actual performance matter over assumed protentional?

It all matters - potential, capabilities, and trends. Know your players and what their "normal" is. I tend to look at trends over a period of time (a month, maybe) and see how that player is performing - coming up, holding steady, fading - and might make an adjustment based on that. If my #3 batter leads the team in Ks, but also AVG and OPS, and I know that this is her usual performance, she's going to stay in that spot. Low Ks is a good thing, generally, but if the AVG is also low, she's not likely to hit in my top 5. You also have to consider the defensive side of the picture. Sometimes having your best defense means being stuck with some less-than-great bats in the lineup.

 

[nixxy311]

DD was tied for 2nd in BAA - her OPS was lower because while she got on she didn't have a lot of XBH. Which was one thing the HC wanted her to work on. But the people above her were our better hitters so that all made sense. Her OBP was 4th but she actually didn't get walked as much as she usually does - I had talked in another post about how her avg PS/PA was the lowest on the team ~3. The pitcher who started every game had the lowest avg and ops of every other starter. I am not actually that concerned about where he put DD but if you have someone struggling at the plate - instead of flexing one girl who is hitting better, let that girl hit and flex the pitcher? There are def girls on the team that he believes are amazing players that he fails to see their shortcomings.

Again not really coming from a parent whose kid didn't get to start - just feel bad for others who could have used the at-bats over someone who wasn't hitting but who had plenty of chances to live up to the perceived hype and didn't. Like flexing our catcher instead of letting her hit when her BAA was higher. I feel esp bad for the seniors that didn't even get to bat this past season. While I don't think they are better than the ones he did start - giving them a few at-bats in non region would have been at least made it worth their parents coming to the games to not watch their kid play.

My kid is not someone who stands out (and really doesn't want to - even when she hit her first hr she was so nervous because she had to run around the bases with people just watching her) so I get that he wouldn't have noticed that she did well this season - but isn't that the job of a coach - to see every player and know how they are doing.

Didn't really mean to get into a rant about it - just curious about a coach's perspective. Obv all coaches are different.

 

[JayW]

Coaches will often use whatever stats reinforce their ingrained biases.

 

[Lance Steckler]

you really want to get yourself twisted, check the official reported stats against what you witnessed in the games. When the 5 throwing errors by 3b in 1 game, are all credited to the 1B because 3B is the coaches favorite little minion, that's when you start really getting PO'd. And i'm not talking close judgment calls, i'm talking balls going past 1b at 8-9' above the bag.

Or the decision that any fly ball in the outfield where the fielder has to move more than 2 steps, is beyond 'ordinary effort' so all those dropped pop flies aren't errors by more of the 'booster club mafia', then you can really get honked off.

Witnessed it all in my DD's 4 years of school ball. can't say i miss the shenanigans one bit.

 

[_MIA_]

you really want to get yourself twisted, check the official reported stats against what you witnessed in the games. When the 5 throwing errors by 3b in 1 game, are all credited to the 1B because 3B is the coaches favorite little minion, that's when you start really getting PO'd. And i'm not talking close judgment calls, i'm talking balls going past 1b at 8-9' above the bag.

Or the decision that any fly ball in the outfield where the fielder has to move more than 2 steps, is beyond 'ordinary effort' so all those dropped pop flies aren't errors by more of the 'booster club mafia', then you can really get honked off.

Well OP was scorekeeper so they would be honking at themself

 

[Lance Steckler]

Well OP was scorekeeper so they would be honking at themself

except when the coach changes the stats that get reported to the conference website. Or they get changed by him weeks later.

 

[_MIA_]

except when the coach changes the stats that get reported to the conference website. Or they get changed by him weeks later.

Yeah that sucks. DD’s coach re-scores games on GC sometimes but that is because the person who runs it doesn’t know the difference between a hit and a FC..