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Varying factors play into decision to give batters the green light
By Adam Berry
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ST. PETERSBURG Conventional wisdom might suggest that hitters should always take a 3-0 pitch. No exceptions. No matter what.
There s logic behind that line of thinking. If a pitcher has thrown three straight balls to a hitter, he will likely have a difficult time throwing three strikes before he tosses a pitch outside the zone. Even if he does throw a strike, the hitter still has the advantage. They are called hitter s counts for a reason, after all.
As of Wednesday, 2,833 of the 4,455 plate appearances that started with three straight balls ended in free passes. Major League hitters own a .740 on-base percentage in plate appearances that start 3-0, and most of that is a product of the number of walks drawn in those at-bats.
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The 2020 baseball season offered us plenty of excitement in a short span, from the July 23 Opening Day matchups all the way through Game 6 of the World Series. Even with fewer games than normal, there were feats and amazing stats accruing left and right, every single day.
It’s hard to pick just one per team, after a season that gave us so much fodder. No team or player can be summed up in one stat alone, but information can entertain and give us insight into the season that was, even if it doesn’t encapsulate the entire year in one fact.