There are risks and rewards in baseball, just like there are in crossing the interstate late at night in rural Minnesota to get Taco John’s. One of those is the ground ball (in baseball—no ground balls when it comes to dry tacos).
The ground ball, for pitchers, can be a way to save energy. Rather than getting a guy out on three pitches, you can get him on one, something that’s especially useful 1) late in the year, when you’re wearing down and 2) in the postseason, when you might have to throw more innings on less rest than you’re used to throwing. The risk, of course, is that one of those little guys wiggles its way through and you have a runner on base. But it’s a good tool for pitchers as expert as Joe Kelly, who turned to the groundball thrice yesterday to complete his scoreless inning of work in Phoenix.
As a result of the grounders, Kelly only had to throw eight pitches to get his three outs, and he didn’t have to throw any of them with a guy on base. That’s efficiency. That’s reward answering risk. And it’s something we might see a lot in October.
