If you’ve been watching the major league baseball postseason, it’s obvious the game is changing: strikeouts are way up, pitchers are throwing gas, defenses are setting up in strange alignments, and relievers are starting games from the stretch. In the post-Moneyball era, most clubs are embracing analytics to maximize their chances of success — which is why you’re more likely to see a three-run homer than a sacrifice bunt or stolen base.
Not for first time and certainly not for the last, traditionalists are wringing their hands.
Rob Neyer is one of baseball’s most incisive chroniclers. A veteran of ESPN, Fox Sports and SB Nation, Neyer is the author of the new book “Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game.” It uses one 2017 matchup between the Astros and A’s to explore the future of a sport in transition.