Why Is Hitting Worse in Extra Innings?
Watching the Yankees last month, the team was scuffling in a four game series against the Baltimore Orioles. They lost three out of four in that series, including a 14-inning loss and a 12-inning loss. During the second of those extra inning losses, Michael Kay on the broadcast asked Paul O’Neill why hitters seemingly get worse in extras. Specifically, he hypothesized that hitters went up to the plate and were thinking about the one big swing that could send everybody home right then. O’Neill agreed, and I couldn’t help but wonder about if it were true. First things first, it’s not just an illusion that teams hit worse in extra innings. From the start of 2017 to now, the Yankees had a .340 team wOBA in innings one through eight. In the 9 th inning plus extra innings with the go-ahead run at the plate (in other words, a home run would end the game), their team wOBA dropped down to .250, which is a gigantic difference. It’s not the just the Yankees who see a drop off in extras. Th...