This has nothing to do with Mike. It really doesn't even have anything to do with Edgar Martinez. It has everything to do with PSBL's narrow view that all situations are the same, and that a walk is always better than swinging the bat.
My point is there are going to be times when you want your best hitter being a bit more aggressive in trying to put the ball in play, rather than passively accepting a walk. Dahs seems to think this means flailing at pitches outside the strike zone. He's wrong (big surprise!). It means not necessarily taking pitches in the zone that are not "your pitch", particularly in situations when base hits have noticeably more value than a walk, i.e. there are runners on base.
PSBL stubbornly refuses to admit that such situations exist. He continues to insist that "Hey, if he walks, that's great!!!" Because I don't think he understands that baseball is more than just numbers on a stat sheet or a probability chart. It's played on a field with real people, and games usually have a heartbeat and a pulse beyond what shows up in the box score the next day.
12/9/2016 6:41 PM (edited)