By: Richard Zhao

Pierre LePage, despite not being able to progress past Class A in the minor leagues, possess a rather bizarre skill: being able to consistently foul balls.

“He could foul the ball straight back during batting practice on command,” Ahmed, the shortstop of the Arizona Diamondbacks, recalls. “Just a different level of bat control.” Nowadays, teams are replacing high-contact, low-impact hitters with players that can send the ball flying. This forces players that focus on high batting averages to either adapt or be left behind.

As contact hitters are slowly phased out of the game, the art of fouling the ball is also being lost. Normally, players would foul the ball on purpose to keep themselves in the game and wait for a throw that they could actually manage to cleanly hit. Some players would also foul balls to tire out the pitcher in order to get easier throws. Because fewer hitters are specializing in being able to consistently hit the ball anyway, there is less reason to master the art of directing the ball to foul zones.

Twenty years ago, the attitude towards fouling balls was different. “In my era, we were embarrassed if we struck out,” said Mark Grace, a former Chicago Cubs star. However, modern hitters often go for risky but potentially powerful strikes, prioritizing distance over consistency.

Previously, baseball teams valued a high batting average as the most important statistic. Nowadays, modern technology allows teams to break down the game bit by bit. The data shows that exit velocity is the metric that best improves offensive production, hence why teams prioritize strength over consistency.

Despite the difference in focus of modern-day baseball teams and the teams of the past, foul-ball rates have been consistent since pitch data first became available in 1988. This has led some hitters to wonder if those fouls are being hit intentionally or not. “From what I know about hitting,” said Christian Walker, a power-hitting first baseman for the Diamondbacks, “it seems impossible that somebody’s doing that on purpose.”