Coaching by the numbers...

[JAD]

I would also like to point out that stats are only as good as the person keeping the book. Give 5 people a book and ask them to score a game and you will probably get 5 different results. Official score keeping can also be misleading since what should be routine plays may be scored as hits depending on the circumstances.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

My goal, as well.

Baseball stats are great and I like them. I coach a softball team, however...

...Baseball is a very different game and those folks aren't thinking the way I am when it comes to scoring runs. So, I don't use the stats baseball people do and apply them to softball. I use what works for me and my game.

I'm curious what you consider "baseball" stats vs "softball" stats? Just wondering is all.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

I'm curious what you consider "baseball" stats vs "softball" stats? Just wondering is all.

They are all the same. What I meant was that I don't necessarily use the same ones to evaluate my 12U softball team that I would use to evaluate a MLB team.

Someone earlier said that stolen bases and strikeouts don't matter. Maybe not to a guy analyzing a baseball club (see my Mike Trout analogy), but they sure do to me.

 

[CoogansBluff]

With out a doubt!!!!!! your perception of SO being overrated, means to me that your team will fail more then teams that look at lowering SO. If the SO isn't important then send your dd up to bat and tell her to just swing at the first 3 pitches and miss on purpose. See how long that will keep her in the line up, the only way it doesn't is if your a daddyball coach. And also again this isn't the MLB.

I never said that I would not look to lower SO's. I did not say that SO isn't important. I said that it is overrated. Big difference.

Saw a player recently who went 6-for-13 w/ 4 doubles and 5 strikeouts. All 6 balls well-struck. Same player 2 tournaments before was 1-for-11 w/ 0 strikeouts. Which would you rather have?

Is it an issue that she struck out 5 times? Yes. It needs work.

But what is the most important stat here? Hits, extra-base hits, getting on base, then strikeouts.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Sure, Mike Trout strikes out a lot and that is OK since he is also putting the ball over the fence about 45 times a season. No 10-14 YO girl on this planet is going to hit it out of the park 45 times a season

There are plenty of 10-14 YO girls who are more productive hitters relative to their level than Trout is to MLB. It's not uncommon for 10-14 YO hitters to bat .420 w/ slugging averages of .600, those who hit more extra-base hits per AB than Trout does, who hit more balls that land or roll beyond the outfielders than Trout does.

The best softball hitters in the world are not contact hitters. They drive the ball into the gaps and over fences. In the development of those kinds of hitters, the risk of strikeout may become greater.

Again - I never said a strikeout is good. Never said it was unimportant.

Just saying that in-play percentage is not a statistic that I value as highly as most do. Which is to say, IMO, it is overrated.

 

[chinamigarden]

What's the old line about using statistics the same way a drunk uses a lamppost. For support not for illumination. Statistics should be something you use to help you see the whole picture but not the only way you decide things.

 

[nanotech14]

The best softball hitters in the world are not contact hitters. They drive the ball into the gaps and over fences. In the development of those kinds of hitters, the risk of strikeout may become greater.

I see your point. It is taken. I just have an issue because of my dds old team. My dd was in the 6th spot 2 years ago and then was moved down to the 8th spot. She carried the highest batting avg., and might possible the highest OBA. She would draw a walk a lot, she lead the team in doubles, but has never hit one out. She is not a contact hitter at all, power double hitter. I just found it odd that girls that struck out a lot were higher in the batting line up. The coaches dd batted 3rd SO more in three games then my dd in two seasons with them. That's why strikeouts get under my skin.

 

[CoogansBluff]

I just have an issue because of my dds old team.

I've probably got a similar issue, and so yes, we can be biased. My DD has gone from pure contact/no power through age 11 (like 0 extra-base hits) to somewhat the opposite. She probably leads her current team in extra-base hits, or close, but strikes out more than the average player. The issue w/ strikeouts must be addressed, what's causing it, etc., but I still think you have to look at the overall production. I'll take .325 hitter w/ power w/ too many K's over the .250/no-power girl who never strikes out. I also have found that DD's rate of strikeouts don't necessarily correlate with her productivity. Maybe that's just her. But she's had spells of 30-40 AB without a strikeout that have been no more productive than 30-40 AB stretches w/ 8-10 strikeouts. Sometimes I think no strikeouts in her case mean she's getting timid and just trying to put ball in play.

 

[Rocketech1]

B

Well I am one of the "stats" guys. Our HC is a "gut" guy 18U. We have a pitcher, who the HC believes is the #1, I don't. She pitched 80.2 innings, gave up 114 hits, with 53 BB, 33 K's.

Here is a perfect example of how the interpretation of the stats can go either way. A walks/hits per inning pitched (WHIP) stat of around 2.00 or lower isn't bad especially if she had been treated as the #1 and is facing the tougher competition (e.g. Bracket play vs Pool play).

What would really worry me is her SO to Walk ratio. Its less than 1/1. I would prefer it be at least 2/1.

 

[obbay]

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for. I too, am a stats guy (or i thought I was) but this past season when I saw the exhaustive stat tracking the other AC was doing (who was also keeping his own records) I thought I might have been going about it wrong. Chinamigarden summed it up perfectly.