Those are the words of Jeff Francoeur, spoken like a player with a career .312 OBP. And actually, Jeff, many ballparks do put OBP up on the scoreboard. The quote comes from a recent ESPN.com article by Jerry Crasnick, which everyone should read, including, I hope, the Angels front office. The media did a little song and dance about the Angels emphasizing plate discipline in spring training this year, but plate discipline is not a switch you can flip in a hitter's mind. It's a skill that takes years to develop, if a player develops it at all. And it is certainly not going to suddenly manifest itself in a player who has already reached the big leagues.
Plate discipline is not just about taking walks, although walks are almost always a sign of good plate discipline. It's about swinging at hittable pitches, making pitchers work for their outs, pressuring them with guys on base, among other things. Most importantly, plate discipline usually results in more extra base hits -- the numbers always show that most home runs are hit in deep counts. High OBPs cause more runs both directly (by making fewer outs) and indirectly (by the other means listed above).
Emphasizing plate discipline is also not just about moneyball or sabermetrics or pleasing kids who like calculators. This is the way the game is changing. To resist it would be like making starters throw 350 innings every year just because "it's the way they did it in my grandpa's day." Thanks Tim McCarver, but with modern medicine and pitcher management, Sandy Koufax could have pitched well into his thirties without exploding his shoulder. Wouldn't that have been worth watching?
Currently the Angels have a walk rate of 8.4%, 25th overall, which is just a shade better than the 8.0% mark they put up last year. Most of the walks end up going to four players: Figgins, Abreu, Hunter, and Napoli, who have taken 49 of the team's 77 unintentional walks. Chone Figgins is proof that change can happen. His walk rate has improved every year he's been in the league and he's currently drawing walks at a fantastic 15.0% rate. His other offensive numbers will come up sooner or later, but right now he's not hurting the team with his .368 OBP at the top of the order. I heard Torii Hunter say on XM Home Plate the other day that he feels he shouldn't swing at the first pitch after just watching Abreu take five or six pitches. Maybe there is some truth to that, since Hunter is currently walking 9.5% of the time, quite a bit higher than his 6.9% career average. He looks a little differently as a hitter than he did in Minnesota. As for Abreu, the Angels needed his bat after losing Teixeira, even if he isn't hitting balls out of the park.
I can't read Crasnick on Francoeur without thinking of Howie Kendrick. Francoeur practically looks like Adam Dunn compared with Kendrick, who's walked 32 times in 1102 big league plate appearances. This season he's walked just twice, the same number of times he's been hit by a pitch. Believe it or not, Howie is actually swinging less than he has at any other point in his career. It's like someone (i.e. Mickey Hatcher) told him to try taking more pitches, but he hasn't really developed the skill to be a selective hitter. He ends up taking when should have swung and swinging when he should have taken. Even with three seasons under his belt, he looks more confused at the plate than ever. Maybe in his case he would be better off just being the hitter he is. He might never post an OBP over .330, but 50 doubles and a .320 batting average is no small achievement either. Hopefully he straightens himself out soon.
As for the Angels as an organization, they'll need to continue emphasizing plate discipline to their young players for a much longer period of time than spring training. Brandon Wood will be their critical test. With plate discipline, he could be Evan Longoria, but without it, he'll be Kevin Kouzmanoff. I am personally not upset that he's been sent down to AAA again. He needs to see pitches every day. The future of the franchise depends on it.
Plate discipline is not just about taking walks, although walks are almost always a sign of good plate discipline. It's about swinging at hittable pitches, making pitchers work for their outs, pressuring them with guys on base, among other things. Most importantly, plate discipline usually results in more extra base hits -- the numbers always show that most home runs are hit in deep counts. High OBPs cause more runs both directly (by making fewer outs) and indirectly (by the other means listed above).
Emphasizing plate discipline is also not just about moneyball or sabermetrics or pleasing kids who like calculators. This is the way the game is changing. To resist it would be like making starters throw 350 innings every year just because "it's the way they did it in my grandpa's day." Thanks Tim McCarver, but with modern medicine and pitcher management, Sandy Koufax could have pitched well into his thirties without exploding his shoulder. Wouldn't that have been worth watching?
Currently the Angels have a walk rate of 8.4%, 25th overall, which is just a shade better than the 8.0% mark they put up last year. Most of the walks end up going to four players: Figgins, Abreu, Hunter, and Napoli, who have taken 49 of the team's 77 unintentional walks. Chone Figgins is proof that change can happen. His walk rate has improved every year he's been in the league and he's currently drawing walks at a fantastic 15.0% rate. His other offensive numbers will come up sooner or later, but right now he's not hurting the team with his .368 OBP at the top of the order. I heard Torii Hunter say on XM Home Plate the other day that he feels he shouldn't swing at the first pitch after just watching Abreu take five or six pitches. Maybe there is some truth to that, since Hunter is currently walking 9.5% of the time, quite a bit higher than his 6.9% career average. He looks a little differently as a hitter than he did in Minnesota. As for Abreu, the Angels needed his bat after losing Teixeira, even if he isn't hitting balls out of the park.
I can't read Crasnick on Francoeur without thinking of Howie Kendrick. Francoeur practically looks like Adam Dunn compared with Kendrick, who's walked 32 times in 1102 big league plate appearances. This season he's walked just twice, the same number of times he's been hit by a pitch. Believe it or not, Howie is actually swinging less than he has at any other point in his career. It's like someone (i.e. Mickey Hatcher) told him to try taking more pitches, but he hasn't really developed the skill to be a selective hitter. He ends up taking when should have swung and swinging when he should have taken. Even with three seasons under his belt, he looks more confused at the plate than ever. Maybe in his case he would be better off just being the hitter he is. He might never post an OBP over .330, but 50 doubles and a .320 batting average is no small achievement either. Hopefully he straightens himself out soon.
As for the Angels as an organization, they'll need to continue emphasizing plate discipline to their young players for a much longer period of time than spring training. Brandon Wood will be their critical test. With plate discipline, he could be Evan Longoria, but without it, he'll be Kevin Kouzmanoff. I am personally not upset that he's been sent down to AAA again. He needs to see pitches every day. The future of the franchise depends on it.
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