One of the things that happens when teams arent scoring a lot is that individual hitters tend to press, thinking that they have to be THE guy to break the team out of the collective slump. Unfortunately, this often exacerbates the problem.

This self-inflicted pressure is never more evident than when the pressure ought to be on the pitcher - when there are two men in scoring position (2nd and 3rd or bases loaded). Pressing hitters will get jumpy in this situation rather than let the game come to them. Weve had 53 chances so far this season in those situations and were hitting an abysmal .109/.283/.152 with just 16 rbi. In contrast, the National League has combined for a .264/.359/.436 line in those hitter-friendly circumstances. Basically, weve missed out in a big way on the best chances that weve created.

Its an interesting take coming from a stathead. I wonder if hes looked at where in the count the Padres are swinging, or whether theyre swinging at pitches in or out of the strike zone. Given the Athletics stress on process when Paul worked in Oakland, I would bet this isnt arm-chair psychology but a measure of how much the batters stay on program in these situations.

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