Is it that the slap hitters have short tenures, or is it that they have now spent years practicing driving the ball harder? Luis Arraez is the extreme outlier today

Posted on August 9, 2026 at 09:49:56 AM by DoctorD (edited August 9, 2026 at 09:51:01 AM)

8th year in the majors with a career .318 batting average and only 41 career home runs.

But as for the slap hitters of the past, I think they just don't exist as much any more because they get it trained out of them from HS on to the minors to the bigs.

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Thread:

i’ve been a huge baseball fan most of my life 60s 70s and 80s and just a casual fan more recently, but am I the only one that doesn’t care at all about whip and war and all other modern statistics - I still don’t know what they mean nm - By sim August 9, 2026 at 09:08:59 AM
- I’m not into the super nerd stuff like BABIP or Fpa etc but I think of OPS and whip as simple improvements on what we grew up with…. - By Rich August 9, 2026 at 10:16:49 AM
  - I should add I am not as big of a far of war. I think it overvalues defense - By Rich August 9, 2026 at 10:21:01 AM
    - isn't taking away a hit from the other team just as valuable as getting a hit for your team? - By DoctorD August 9, 2026 at 10:32:40 AM
      - It is chances driven though, right? So you can be a good fielder who doesn't get many chances. Also I don't think it credits first basemen for difficult putouts on throws - By Rich August 9, 2026 at 10:49:30 AM
        
        there are a couple different ways to do it, but basically just measuring how many outs you generated compared to a league average defender at your position* - By DoctorD August 9, 2026 at 11:40:34 AM
- Just think of the WARs as ways to quantify the value of a player’s contribution. You don’t need to ignore traditional metrics, although some like RBI & pitcher wins - By brick August 9, 2026 at 09:34:26 AM
  - Is it that the slap hitters have short tenures, or is it that they have now spent years practicing driving the ball harder? Luis Arraez is the extreme outlier today - By DoctorD August 9, 2026 at 09:49:56 AM
- I suspect you are not alone. And not knowing what those stats mean doesn't mean you don't care about them, you just don't know what things they are demonstrating that you do care about - By DoctorD August 9, 2026 at 09:23:17 AM

The Victors

Is it that the slap hitters have short tenures, or is it that they have now spent years practicing driving the ball harder? Luis Arraez is the extreme outlier today