Bellhorn and Those Killer K’s
Chris Snow offers up another insightful piece in today’s Boston Globe as he sits down with Boston 2nd Baseman and Dewey’s House favorite, Mark Bellhorn. One of the subjects Snow broaches is Bellhorn’s propensity to strikeout. To his credit, Bellhorn seems unapologetic about it. He realizes that, all things being equal, he ought to cut down on his strikeouts but all things are not equal. His willingness to go deep into counts and to take close pitches means that the trade-off for his flashy on-base is an increase in strikeouts. The most telling quote of the whole piece comes from Terry Francona…
“Bellhorn, I understand he’s not the prototype No. 2 hitter, but he did a great job getting on base…”
Sort of another one of those watershed moments where I am reminded that SABR has not infiltrated the mainstream by any stretch. If a “prototype No. 2 hitter” is not a 2nd Baseman that leads everyone in the league that plays his position in on-base percentage, what is? I’ve read that quote over to myself about 8 times now and each time I find it more and more unthinkable that a Big League Manager could utter it.