Bill James learns something new about why strikeout rates continue to rise. (I believe this article is open to the public.) Batters are in fact pushing back against the strikeout, but pitchers keep driving the rate up:
The increase in strikeout rates is feeding on itself.
I feel stupid for not having realized this before now, but as you no doubt can recognize, there are many processes in nature that feed on themselves, growing stronger because they have grown stronger. A hurricane is one such effect, or a tornado. A straight wind may reach a certain maximum speed, 50 MPH or 60 MPH or whatever, with GUSTS of wind that may be higher. What happens with a tornado or a hurricane is that the wind forms a circle and blows into itself, making a sustained wind that is much more powerful than a gust of wind. It is generating its own momentum. A snowball rolling downhill is the clichéd example of this, or an avalanche.
Strikeouts are increasing because strikeouts are increasing. Stupid of me not to see it before now.
There are long periods of history where the best hitters struck out a lot, followed by periods where the best batters did not strike out a lot (relative to the strikeout rates of the era). We are in the latter period right now. The best pitchers of any era, however, were the pitchers with the highest strikeout rates. To be the best pitcher, you need to strikeout batters, so the quest to be the best leads to more strikeouts.
As with most things James writes, the article is well worth your time.
from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2P5XiLH
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