Part 5/10:
A recurring theme is the difficulty in balancing player development with team-building strategies rooted in advanced metrics. For instance, building a lineup solely around high exit velocities and power can lead to players who strike out excessively, like John Carlos Stanton or Anthony Vuelpi, thus sacrificing contact rate and base running aspects of the game.
There’s skepticism about whether players can adapt their swings and approach later in their careers. Typically, players who are known for their hard contact ability—and whose agents prioritize power—rarely alter their swings to focus on contact or small-ball tactics, especially if it jeopardizes their ability to hit home runs and earn lucrative contracts.