Davidson encourages students to explore curiosities in and out of the classroom. What is a topic, activity or idea that excites you? Tell us why. Examples may include hobbies, books, interactions, m...

Davidson encourages students to explore curiosities in and out of the classroom. What is a topic, activity or idea that excites you? Tell us why. Examples may include hobbies, books, interactions, music, podcasts, movies, etc. (250-300 words)

Innovation in baseball has become something extremely interesting to me as it relates to statistical measures and sabermetrics. Baseball has been played for well over a century, and for many decades captured the sole attention of the American sporting public. Despite, or perhaps because of this long history, baseball has remained a traditional game, relatively stagnant and resistant to change. However, baseball’s path has taken a sharp turn in the last 5-10 years, moving from a game based largely on feel and the “eye-test,” to one dominated by numbers and quantitative analysis. I am currently taking a sabermetrics class, analyzing player performance through advanced statistics. Combining various simple stats and weighting them according to value allows teams and analysts to make much more complex models of performance than what had previously been possible. The statistical overhaul of baseball has made once overlooked players into stars, and teams more advanced in this area perform to a higher level. One current prominent example is the Astros pitcher scouting system in Latin America. They have continuously signed underperforming and overlooked pitching options for far lower sums than their competitors based on modeling these pitcher’s pitch offerings compared to those that are above average at a Major League level according to metrics like FIP, spin rate, and ERA+. While unconventional, this strategy has paid dividends for the team, giving them one of the best rotations in the league and becoming a major part of their World Series charge this season. The idea of completely turning the status quo on its head in order to gain competitive advantage is a process I have found incredibly interesting as I delve into this subject.