Bruce Schoenfeld
Appearances
The Daily
The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’
My name is Bruce Schoenfeld, and I'm a contributor to the New York Times Magazine. I've been writing about baseball for four decades, and my most recent piece for the magazine is about one of the sport's biggest evolutions in all that time. It has to do with some of the marquee stars of Major League Baseball, starting pitchers. Starting pitchers are throwing fewer innings per game than ever.
The Daily
The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’
He's incredibly exciting to watch and draws huge crowds nearly every time he takes them out. Here it is.
The Daily
The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’
Skeens throws the ball 100 miles an hour. He has four pitches that he's able to put where he wants, and he's adding two more this year. After the season, last summer, he was named the National League's Rookie of the Year. That's unbelievable.
The Daily
The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’
But even though Skeens might be this once-in-a-generation talent, unless something changes, it's likely that he'll be largely absent from the record books. And that's what's at the center of my story and this week's Sunday read. Baseball's had a resurgence lately.
The Daily
The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’
But one of the unintended consequences of the sport's devotion to analytics is that marquee pitchers like Paul Skeens don't play nearly as significant a role. And that means fans simply don't get the chance to see those magical pitchers nearly as much as they used to. Is there anything Major League Baseball can do to fix that? So here's my article, narrated by Robert Fass.
The Daily
The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’
Our audio producer is Jack Disodoro. Our music was written and performed by Aaron Esposito. Thanks for listening.
The Daily
The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’
The act of throwing a baseball 90 to 95 miles an hour off a mound is not natural. A pitcher's arm undergoes an enormous amount of physical stress, and the body needs time to recover from that. Just how much time? No one can seem to agree on, despite years and years of accumulated knowledge and data. Today's baseball is heavily optimized by data.
The Daily
The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’
Anyone who has been following the sport for more than a few years can see how the study and use of that data has changed the game. For example, the data says that bunting isn't that beneficial, so almost nobody ever bunts anymore. And this optimized version of baseball also dictates that if there's any doubt, take the starting pitcher out of the game before something bad happens.
The Daily
The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’
The longer he goes, it turns out, the more likely he'll give up hits and runs. Or even worse, get tired and maybe injure himself. And so, when a game might be at a decisive point in the late innings, these days starting pitchers are rarely still around. But then last year, a starting pitcher named Paul Skeens made his debut in the major leagues.