Analytics spread like wildfire across baseball in the 2000s, continued into the 2010s, and now into the 2020s. While statistical information has always been used to measure player performance, some have argued that it’s gone a bit too far in recent years.
Veteran relief pitcher Kenley Jansen is someone that has been in the league since 2010 when analytics were still in the early stages, although there was still plenty of information available.
Jansen sounded off on analytics while appearing on the Audacy Original Podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” with WEEI’s Rob Bradford.
“If you’re constantly hitting certain stuff, like horizontal or vertical, stuff like that, on my cutter, then I know it’s going to play out everybody. Now it’s the thing of how can I put it all together and execute and make pitches, and the game is still the game,” Jansen said. “Personally, I’m not saying we’re wasting time on analytics, and this is good, but to win a championship you’ve got to have your best stuff out there to win it.”
It makes sense. While analytics can theoretically give a player or a team an advantage, it’s still up to those players to execute. Baseball is about execution and coming up clutch in big spots.
“Let me put it this way: analytics will not win you championships because the numbers are the numbers but you don’t know how that’s going to feel,” Jansen said. “Sometimes we go against numbers because we think that a starter when they pitch 75 pitches and then from 75-100 that’s when they get hit around, that’s not true. You just got to see how the guy is doing out there.
“For me, ‘Oh, back-to-back or three in a row is going to harm me.’ That’s not true. You got to see if I’m good for it. You put stuff like that in people’s minds, that’s a loser mentality I feel like,” he continued. “‘Oh, I can’t do certain stuff.’ No. Who said that? God gave you a talent and for you to figure out how to put it together, which I agree like they try to help you. But at the end of the day, it can be 50-50, it can be good for you but it can also be bad for you.”
Jansen spent the first 12 years of his career with the Dodgers and has a World Series ring to show for it. He’s a three-time All-Star and was one of the best closers in the game during his prime. He showed that again last season with the Braves, racking up 41 saves despite a 3.38 ERA.
Bradford speculated that the Dodgers are more proactive with analytics while the Braves are more hands-off with analytics, which Jansen didn’t confirm or deny.
“I’m not going to mention names,” he laughed. “I’m just going to tell you one is super heavy, one is old school, and one is in between. I’m not saying names, that’s for you to figure out.”
Jansen mentioned that when facing top hitters like Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Mookie Betts, and Mike Trout, sometimes they’re going to get the best of the pitcher and sometimes the pitcher will win that battle. Home plate is 17 inches wide and hitters aren’t necessarily able to cover the entire strike zone within an at-bat.
“When you talk to them, they can’t cover both sides of the plate so then if we execute well enough, I still like my chances,” he said. “The game is still the game. What can analytics do for me? For reasons in certain spots, I’m dominant and you should pitch only that part. That’s not true because how did I get to that part? I don’t want to talk about my game and be too predictable but I’m just saying how analytics can be like ‘Oh, you should only pitch here because guys have .048 batting average against you, you should only pitch there.’ No, it’s not, because how did I get there?
“You still have to set the hitters up. It’s about changing the hitters’ eye levels. Are they looking up? Are they looking down? Are they looking away from the side so you pound them in? The game is still the game and you got to work your way, study it. For me, it’s just 50-50, man, I don’t believe too much in it. Certain stuff I use it so I know how my pitch will play out, but at the end of the day, I still can pitch both sides of the plate and up and down.”
Jansen is one of many players that have their qualms about analytics. While they should be used to a certain extent, the human element can’t necessarily be measured and sometimes that’s what matters in sports, especially so in baseball.
Related
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram