Dayton Moore keeps the Kansas City Royals Stuck in the 80’s
By John Viril
Jun 7, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder
Lorenzo Cain(6) can
1) SABERMETRICS
Sabermetrics caused teams to learn the value of the walk and getting on base. Also, teams learned the value of the home run while getting over the “shame” of striking out. It also taught offenses to burn up starting pitchers through increased patience at the plate.
Even if Lorenzo Cain can jump to the moon, he still can’t stop a walk.
Sabermetrics also taught us that games are usually won by “crooked” innings where teams score multiple runs. The above lessons have made the Royals-style pop gun offense obsolete. No amount of defense can stop a team that draws walks and hits the ball out of the park. The sabermetric offense deployed by most teams today reduces the impact of slick gloves.
Even if Lorenzo Cain can jump to the moon, he still can’t stop a walk. And, there are only so many home runs he can pull back onto the field of play. An offense built around the “3-true outcomes players” of a 1) walk, 2) home run, and 3) strikeout is kryptonite against a team built around defensive excellence.