Read on Twitter
I've seen a few tweets about stereotyping analytics, as well as old style baseball. I think this actually leads to an interesting point that can be made about player evaluation in general. I'll try to summarize simply in a few tweets. Bare with me here.
The way we evaluate players has dramatically changed. New information, analytics, has been presented and allowed us to get a clearer picture of who players are and what they can be. While it sounds like a good thing, a lot of people don't treat it as such. Why?
Well perhaps, it's the way it's presented. Which leads to a stereotype about people who use stats. "People who use analytics and stuff don't actually watch the game! They just try to shove their views down our throats and like they know more than us! I bet they never played!"
1. I don't think I've ever met a person who uses sabermetrics and doesn't watch a lot of baseball. Me personally, I probably saw over 500 games of all different levels just last year. (It was my job so take with a grain of salt) Point remains. If you like numbers, you must watch
2. Yes, sometimes people can be a little pushy with their use of sabermetrics and I'm guilty of this in the past. For the record, I'm working on it. However, imagine that you knew you were using hard evidence to present a case, and people were just being ignorant to it.
That would drive people mad, and it can be difficult at times to not tell someone they're being ignorant. Though I try very hard not to.
3. Do people who use sabermetrics know more than those who don't? That's a very vague question and that's tough. It's very much on a case by case basis. However, the teams that have been doing well tend to hire people who are more analytically inclined based on what I've seen.
4. I don't know why people think you need to have had experience playing baseball to actually be good at player evaluation. That's silly. If you read from writers or people who worked in baseball about the way they evaluate players and that's how you try to do it, then do it.
I think the biggest thing you might hear from people is that result based analysis is bad. However, sometimes people may not tell you why. So I'll try to explain in short.
It's bad because results are misleading. There's some luck in baseball, and some players are a little luckier than others. That's why analytics is super important. It helps find the players who are good at skills that translate to success.
Do you have to use it? Absolutely not. You can choose to do whatever, but I do recommend you using analytics. They're extremely helpful and improve player evaluation skills. If you don't understand, ask!
I'm sorry about the long thread but I really do hope you enjoyed reading it! I'm always available to talk on here about anything as long as you're respectful about it.
