This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider. Joe Sheehan is a founding member of Baseball Prospectus and has been a contributor to Sports Illustrated and Baseball America. He has been writing about baseball for 25 years.
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"When you add hit batsmen to walk rate, you see what’s happened in recent seasons. These non-events for purposes of action have pushed the Free Base Rate to turn-of-the-century levels. Combined, the elevated walk and HBP rates are propping up OBP in a league hitting .234, providing enough baserunners to keep scoring above eight runs a game for the moment, but again, not making baseball any more entertaining. If the league pushes for even a moderately aggressive pitch clock in 2023, with an intention to create more hittable pitches, the unintended consequence could be a record level of non-events -- walks and hit batsmen."