West Virginia University baseball coach Greg Van Zant said he’s fine with the changes that were made to the bats this year as long as everyone else has to use them.
According to the Associated Press, scoring in college baseball this year is down by an average of more than a run per game and home runs have almost been cut in half after the NCAA adopted more stringent restrictions on the bats being used.
Player safety was a major concern a decade ago when just about any player could knock the ball out of the ballpark because the bats were so lively.
“They got real lively in the 1990s to the point possibly where the scores were high and it wasn’t safe for the pitchers,” said Van Zant. “Then they got scaled back twice recently. About 10 years ago they made the diameter of the barrel smaller and about three years ago they were further reduced. They were supposed to perform like wood.
“But this is the most drastic reduction that I’ve seen.”
Van Zant said he’s noticed a difference in the scores of the games West Virginia has played this season, the Mountaineers averaging less than a home run per game in 2011 and the team’s other big power number, extra base hits, also being down.
Some coaches don’t like the rule change because it modifies the way they have to manage games. If you take the patient approach and wait for someone to knock a ball out of the park in the late innings it may happen – or it may not. In the past, getting a late-inning home run against a sub-par relief pitcher was very likely. Now, it’s not nearly as likely.
“It does change the way you manage the game a little bit just because your chances of getting an extra base hit are less,” Van Zant explained.
Making the bats less lively may also bring back some of the more traditional ways to score runs, i.e., good base running, hitting behind runners, sacrifice hitting, etc. For years, the game people were so used to watching was rendered obsolete by the long ball. According to Van Zant, an acceptable team ERA in college baseball was right around 5.00, which two decades ago would have been considered atrocious.
“Our big discussion has been, ‘How is everybody going to recruit?’ Is everybody going to go for the fast kid that is smaller or do you go for the strong kid that can hit?” said Van Zant.
Control pitchers could once again become an important commodity in the game. Those who were once afraid to throw the ball over the middle of the plate because of the likelihood of good contact ending up being a home run may once again not have to pitch so perfectly. As a result, walks may go down, team ERAs may be reduced, and the games might be shorter.
“It really helps the pitcher out there that doesn’t throw overly hard but is a strike thrower,” Van Zant said. “Pitchers have to pitch to contact and that’s why we were successful this weekend (West Virginia swept a three-game series against Georgetown). We walked six in three games.”
Interesting stuff.
