Why Crowding the Plate is Over Rated and SELFISH...

[Alex]

It seems that the Indians don't flinch as much on inside pitches as other teams. I have a theory as to why. Because the Indians are playing team ball so well, and forgoing the home run and playing for the double, single or walk, they aren't crowding the plate as much.

The Result of not crowding the plate produces many positive results. The inside brushback pitch produces no tangible result for the pitcher when facing the Indians.

I saw several instances last night (in the 3-2 come from behind win) where the Angels pitcher either tried the brush back pitch or a very tight inside purpose pitch and it served virtually no purpose because the Indians batter wasn't crowding the plate! I saw many instances last night where the Indians batter just took the out of the strike zone inside purpose pitch for a ball. The interesting part was our batters didn't even flinch at inside balls that would otherwise drop to the ground the typical plate crowder.

Because the Indians batters are not crowding the plate, it's much more difficult to be "brushed back", and because the Indians are not crowding the plate, they also seem to have a better sense at not going after an inside pitch that will be called a ball everytime.

The result is a favorable balls and strike situation. In addition, because our ballplayers aren't being brushbacked because they don't crowd the plate, they don't have to reposition themselves after a brushback pitch. The "purpose pitch" serves much less purpose against the Indians because they are not trying to hit a home-run with every swing. The Indians have become quite adept at taking the outside pitch the other way, so the one weak spot not crowding the plate, the outside pitch, is "fixed" by going the opposite way. Our team hits the ball hard to the opposite field, a sign that this team really does get the concept of team hitting.

I've noticed the extra base runners per game that we have this year versus past seasons.
Heck we have so many extra base runners per game in Friday night's win against the Angels we were 3-3 runners caught stealing and the Angels were 5-5 SUCCESSFULLY stealing, and we still won 9-6.

Wow.

Those home-run hitters everyone salivates for may be putting their own success ahead of their team's success. Travis Hafner has turned into a Ferdinand the bull type, a gentle giant with a mean swing who is hitting and reaching base with a Wade Boggs frequency but with more power. A very interesting and refreshing approach to the game.

[The RotoTribe]

So, maybe this is due to Eddie Murray? This is very hopeful stuff, but Tribe hitters still need to learn how to hit left-handers.

[Alex]

I'm thinking it might be due to Eddie Murray. I wonder how Tribe coaches deal with Branyan if he were called up.

This Indians team has some of the most entertaining hitters in baseball in the 1-6 slot. I think they have taken to Murray. I think not crowding the plate could become "in" again, and it could be Eddie and the Indians leading the way.

[Alex]

Travis Hafner has had some really amazing at bats lately. The pitcher and catcher follow existing protocol, throw inside to the hot hitter to move him off the plate.

The problem for the opposing pitcher is that Travis is not Hogging the plate! So the first pitch comes in, way inside. Travis doesn't even flinch, because he's not on the plate, and it's an obvious ball.

The next pitch comes way inside, Travis does not flinch, because he's not crowding the plate. Suddenly it's 2-0 in Travis's favor. Well, conventional wisdom is that you now have "set-up" the hitter, but in Travis's case, no such luck, because Travis wasn't crowding the plate to begin with.

The next pitch is somewhere in the middle of the plate and Travis will just slap it hard to the outfield. What's even more frustrating for the opposition, if they walk him, he ends up stealing a base and being driven in as the winning run!

Travis is a really fun hitter to watch. He'll probably be corrupted by some agent who will tell him he can command more money per year if he crowds the plate and hits an extra 10-15 homers a year even as the overall quality of all of his at bats declines as a result.