In a recent episode of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption,” co-host Mike Wilbon stirred controversy with his remarks about baseball statistics, specifically exit velocity.
Many could relate with Wilbon’s comments, especially since Major League Baseball – and the sport as a whole – has taken a deep-dive into analytics with seemingly no end in sight.
During the segment, Wilbon expressed frustration with the emphasis on stats like exit velocity, questioning their relevance.
Wilbon referred to one particular case involving Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop O’Neil Cruz.
“It angers me. [Cruz is] a .260 hitter, so why do I care about the exit velo? … I don’t,” he said.
“I guess people need this to become interested and more fascinated and go, ‘Oh wow!’ … Not only do I not go, ‘oh wow,’ it has started the ruination of watching sports for me.
“Numbers like this put up on the screen repeatedly, day in, day out,” he said in clear frustration.
Enter FOX Sports MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal…
Appearing on “Foul Territory,” Rosenthal offered a rebuttal to Wilbon’s stance.
He criticized ESPN commentators, including Wilbon and Stephen A. Smith, for delving into baseball topics without sufficient knowledge of the sport.
Rosenthal suggested that focusing on a specific sport, as he does, might be more appropriate than commenting on unfamiliar territory.
“We’ve seen now twice ESPN commentators, both of whom who are basically basketball centric – Michael Wilbon and Stephen A. Smith – venture into baseball without a lot of knowledge about baseball,” Rosenthal said.
“This is why, in this day and age, it’s probably better to focus on a specific sport – the way I do – than talk about things you don’t have any knowledge of.
“And the exit velo debate is a legitimate one. And I understand the frustration,” he continued.
“You look at O’Neil Cruz, yeah, great, he’s basically an above-average offensive player … My point on this was that that performance Tuesday night was a great performance, and it was measurable. It was quantifiable.
“We came to have a better appreciation of it because we knew what the numbers were, and we knew the context of what the numbers were.
“So, I wish Michael hadn’t said that because he got crushed for it,” Rosenthal added.
“Michael Wilbon is one of the most accomplished people in our business and one of the best people in our business. But we all say things that we don’t always think entirely through. And I think he would like this one back.”
Where do you stand on this whole debate?
There are many who agree with Wilbon that these types of advanced-stats have gotten way out of hand in baseball – and all sports really.
Then of course there are plenty of people who side with Rosenthal and see the clear value in such statistics.
What are your thoughts on the situation?
And what about Rosenthal’s suggestion that the Wilbon’s and Stephen A’s of the world should just stick to their sport of expertise???