Walk margin

[soapy]

I noticed this in Kurkjian's preview of the series and thought it was interesting:

 

Piniella put his stamp on the club immediately by demanding, more than anything else, that Chicago throw strikes. The 2006 Cubs, a squad that lost 96 games and finished last in the NL Central, had 292 more walks from their pitchers than from their hitters. That marked the largest gap in the history of the National League and was the largest gap by any team since the 1971 Indians. This year, that margin dropped from 292 to 76. That was the Piniella influence.

 

This is something that many (including me) have been harping about for years now. The last few years this problem seemed to stem from a combination of Hendry and Dusty's philosophies. Hendry has always seemed to place little importance on making sure the pitchers he acquires throw strikes, and Baker's comtept for the importance of a walk (on either side) is well known.

 

I'm curious how much of this improvement is really a result of Lou's influence. I don't doubt that some of it is. I just thought that it was an interesting change from last year and I am happy to see that it seems to be improving.

[UK1679666180]

They still ranked 15th in the NL in walks on offense and 13th in walks allowed.

 

Hitters like Theriot, Lee, Derosa, Floyd, etc are the main reasons why they had the spike in BBs on offense.

 

As far as pitching, Hill improved his control, Lilly had few walks in the innings he pitched and the bullpen was better than '06.

 

I think it's more of Hendry improving the talent rather than an improvement of approach by Piniella.

[rawaction]

They still ranked 15th in the NL in walks on offense and 13th in walks allowed.

 

Hitters like Theriot, Lee, Derosa, Floyd, etc are the main reasons why they had the spike in BBs on offense.

 

As far as pitching, Hill improved his control, Lilly had few walks in the innings he pitched and the bullpen was better than '06.

 

I think it's more of Hendry improving the talent rather than an improvement of approach by Piniella.

 

I think it's a little of both. I think the Cubs coaching staff and catchers did a good job of keeping their pitchers on track when their control started to suffer. Not really much change on the offensive side, as far as approach goes. But I think there was a huge difference in Piniella and Baker as far as hands-on management. It seems as if Baker and Rothschild (forced by Dusty) sat on their hands way too much the last couple years.