Sarris: More load management in baseball? What the sport might learn from the NBA
From SABR member Eno Sarris at The Athletic on November 15, 2019:
The baseball crowd might find the anger around “load management” in basketball quaint. The idea that stars need proactive rest to stay healthy is ingrained into the very fabric of modern baseball — it’s called the five-man rotation. Relievers have healthy rest days all the time.
But of course things aren’t as simple as that, and it turns out that the type of “surprise” rest that might anger a basketball fan is going to become more common in baseball. The tech boom beginning to happen in this sport will lead to the same kind of modeling that requires Kawhi Leonard to take a full game off every now and then in the NBA.
In other words, baseball is learning something from basketball. And though the backlash probably won’t be as stark due to major differences in the sport, baseball may want to prepare itself for some bumps in the ride.
Read the full article here (subscription required): https://theathletic.com/1372051/2019/11/15/sarris-could-we-see-more-load-management-in-baseball-what-the-sport-might-learn-from-the-nba/
Originally published: November 15, 2019. Last Updated: November 15, 2019.