Trueblood: The slider revolution has spun the Cubs into the ground
From Matthew Trueblood at Baseball Prospectus on September 27, 2018:
Last week, I wrote about baseball’s fastest-moving trend: pitchers all over the league are throwing more four-seam fastballs and sliders, and far fewer sinkers. From the mound, it’s become a game focused on inducing swings and misses above all else, in an effort to mitigate the power found up and down nearly every lineup in baseball. From the batter’s box, it’s become a game focused on power, in an effort to make up for the inevitable rise in strikeout rate that has accompanied all those new sliders.
One contender, however, is essentially being left behind. The Cubs are, for the second consecutive season, throwing fewer sliders (as a percentage of all pitches) than any other team in MLB.
Read the full article here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/42864/rubbing-mud-the-slider-revolution-has-spun-the-cubs-into-the-ground/
Originally published: September 27, 2018. Last Updated: September 27, 2018.