Game Theory in Baseball
Baseball is a sport in which statistics are not only viewed by fans, but are analyzed and utilized by owners, general managers, coaches, and players. Studying your opponents tendencies is crucial to succeeding as a high level baseball player. For example, knowing an opposing hitter’s batting average based on pitch selection and location is vital in giving the pitcher an advantage in an at-bat. On the other hand, a batter knowing which pitch a pitcher typically throws in certain counts can provide them with an important edge at the plate. However, since these strategies are frequently, if not always used by both pitchers and hitters, it is evident that a mixed strategy is ideally used to combat the opponent’s strategy.
Both pitchers and batters have to adjust for their counterpart’s use of statistics and sabermetrics. Both players need to use a mixed strategy to “keep their opponent guessing.” This is necessary to “upset the equilibrium.” If only one player uses game theory, then the player that does not is at a severe disadvantage. For this reason, the mixed strategy is able to somewhat nullify the potential benefits of each player’s opponent using game theory. It is evident that game theory is commonly used in baseball and is necessary to all players to improve their performance in all aspects of the game.