The Hidden Value of Quick Counts - cookjn's Blog

cookjn's Blog

The Hidden Value of Quick Counts

Posted on April 2, 2014 at 02:32 PM.

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Quick Counts has quickly become a polarizing new feature in MLB 14: The Show. Chris Sanner of Operation Sports calls it a game changer that should help people complete a 162 game season, while Brian Wiedey of Pasta Padre calls it a complete failure that saves little time and ruins the spirit of the game.

I personally think the feature is a little broken in it's current state. However, I don't see it as the complete failure as Brian sees it. In fact, I think Quick Counts, when properly executed, can be a game changer, and not for the reason Chris gives us.

One of the biggest variables in the game of baseball is a hitter's (and pitcher's) command of the strike zone. The problem with video game baseball is it's hard to realistically recreate this variable. Unfortunately, this problem is all on us.

Let's look at a couple player stats from last year.

Joey Votto walked 135 times last season. How many of you have the skill, patience, and time to duplicate that number in a season of your own?

Chris Carter struck out 212 times last season. How many of you have the (lack of) skill, patience, and time to duplicate that number in a season of your own?

More importantly, how many of you have the ability to both draw a lot of walks when you play as Joey Votto and strike out a lot when you play as Chris Carter?

I'm guessing there's not many of you.

Thanks to my skill level, I usually tend to hit like Vlad Guerrero in that I don't walk or strikeout a lot. I'm sure some of you are like me in that regard. I'm also sure some of you are quite adept at striking out and/or walking a ton.

The problem here is every player we play as usually has the same command of the strike zone as our own command of the strike zone. Whether I play as Joey Votto or Chris Carter, my skill level ends up homogenizing their walk and strikeout totals.

A correctly executed quick counts feature that uses both hitter and pitcher ratings to help determine working counts can go a long way towards accurately portraying every player's unique command of the strike zone. We should then see more realistic stats, more realistic players, and ultimately more realistic games. Whatever spirit is lost on a micro level can be made up in spades with added realism on a macro level.