I agree with Jorge Posada.
https://x.com/_NYYNEWS/status/2071536226364981757
Modern baseball has a serious problem, and it is time people stop acting like this is just an old-head yelling. This is not simply about nostalgia. This is not about wanting baseball to look exactly like it did 25 years ago.
It is about the product becoming harder to watch.
The game has become too robotic. Too formula-based. Too accepting of strikeouts. Too obsessed with home runs. Too willing to live with a guy hitting .205 as long as he runs into 30 balls a year.
Somewhere along the way, baseball decided contact did not matter. Moving runners did not matter. Putting pressure on the defense did not matter. Two-strike approach did not matter. Base running did not matter. Situational hitting did not matter.
Everything became launch angle, exit velocity, walks, strikeouts, and home runs.
And look, I understand why it happened.
Pitching is better than it has ever been. Guys are throwing harder than ever. Bullpens are loaded with arms throwing 98-101 with ridiculous movement. It is harder now to string together three or four hits in an inning against elite pitching.
So hitters adjusted.
If it is that hard to put together multiple hits, the approach becomes simple: do damage when you get your pitch.
But that adjustment has made the game worse to watch.
Runs per game have seemingly stayed flat since 2016. So baseball has not really created some explosive offensive product. It has just changed how those runs are scored.
Instead of rallies, speed, pressure, contact, and balls in play, we get walks, strikeouts, pitching changes, and solo home runs.
That might look fine in a spreadsheet.
It does not make for a great watchable product.
Kirk Herbstreit nailed this part.
https://x.com/KirkHerbstreit/status/2071761087804924155
Where did the athletic ability go? Where did the clutch hitting late in games go? Where did starting pitchers going deep into games go? Where did base stealing go? Where did good base running go? Where did sac bunts and moving runners over in tight games go?
Those things used to be part of the beauty of baseball.
Now they feel like lost arts.
I am not saying every team needs to bunt five times a game. I understand the math. I understand why teams value outs. I understand why home runs matter.
But the game has lost balance.
There used to be different ways to beat you. A team could mash. A team could run. A team could pressure you. A team could win 3-2 because the starter shoved, the leadoff guy got on, someone moved him over, and the defense had to make plays under stress.
Now too many teams feel like they are playing the exact same version of baseball.
Wait for the homer.
Accept the strikeout.
Trust the numbers.
Repeat.
The worst part is that this has trickled down to the youth level. Kids are not being taught to become complete baseball players. They are being trained to hit home runs.
The focus on exit velocity, launch angle, travel ball, etc. all plays into this new age of baseball we are seeing today.
Everyone wants the exit velo clip. Everyone wants the pull-side bomb. Everyone wants the the shoutout from Perfect Game and PBR.
But baseball is not just hitting the ball 105 mph.
Baseball is knowing how to play.
It is taking the extra base. Hitting behind a runner. Shortening up with two strikes. Getting a runner in from third. Stealing a bag. Reading the game. Understanding the moment.
That stuff still matters.
Or at least it should.
Baseball’s problem is not that nobody scores anymore. The problem is how the game is being played. The sport has become more optimized, more calculated, more powerful, and somehow less fun.
That is the crisis.
The home run will always matter. Power will always matter. Velocity will always matter. Analytics are not going away, and they should not go away.
But baseball has to find its soul again.
It has to bring back action. It has to bring back athleticism. It has to bring back contact, speed, pressure, and complete baseball players.
Because if the next generation is raised to believe the only thing that matters is hitting the ball over the fence, the quality of baseball is only going to keep falling.
Baseball has a crisis.
And everybody who actually loves the game can see it.
Posada is right. The game did get smarter on paper, but dumber between the lines.
