One of the most annoying baseball discussions that seemingly never stops is this "analytics" vs. "gut feel"debate in terms of how teams are run.
It's presented like a team either uses sophisticated data to make decisions, or doesn't even own a computer. I realize that's an exaggeration, but I think most people who follow baseball can relate to what I'm getting at here.
I bring this up because McCovey Chronicles published a story about Buster Posey moving the data nerds out of the Clubhouse, where Farhan Zaidi had placed them. It was almost positioned like a team can either be driven by sophisticated data or gut feel, and there is no in-between. Every time I hear this discussed, I always think "why not both." There is always going to be some element of art and some of science, is there not?
What is the hangup people seem to have with this topic, why is it always an either/or discussion? Does it simply boil down to how final decisions are made? Like, if the algorithm decides the lineup, the team is data driven, but if the manager/coach decides it, the team is run on "gut feel?" Just don't understand this seemingly black and white discussion, when there seems to be many shades of grey.
It's presented like a team either uses sophisticated data to make decisions, or doesn't even own a computer. I realize that's an exaggeration, but I think most people who follow baseball can relate to what I'm getting at here.
I bring this up because McCovey Chronicles published a story about Buster Posey moving the data nerds out of the Clubhouse, where Farhan Zaidi had placed them. It was almost positioned like a team can either be driven by sophisticated data or gut feel, and there is no in-between. Every time I hear this discussed, I always think "why not both." There is always going to be some element of art and some of science, is there not?
What is the hangup people seem to have with this topic, why is it always an either/or discussion? Does it simply boil down to how final decisions are made? Like, if the algorithm decides the lineup, the team is data driven, but if the manager/coach decides it, the team is run on "gut feel?" Just don't understand this seemingly black and white discussion, when there seems to be many shades of grey.
