The Death of Baseball's Iron Man

Rizzo got hit by more pitches and played more games than any other National Leaguer (SOE)

Anthony Rizzo is good at a lot of things. He's good at hitting for power, as evidenced by his career .206 ISO. He has a knack for hitting in the clutch, for he led all of baseball in Win Probability Added last year. He boasts a great batting eye, which is reflected in his 10.9 percent career walk rate.

Unlike most first basemen, Rizzo's skills extend beyond the batter's box. He's smooth around the bag, ranking in the top three for Total Zone Runs and in the top five for Range Factor among NL first-sackers in each of the past three years. He's even a good baserunner, quick enough to steal 17 bases last year--second only to Paul Goldschmidt at the position.

Rizzo has one other skill, a skill that tends to get underrated when evaluating ballplayers; durability. Over the past three years, Rizzo has played 460 of a possible 486 games. Only 16 men have played more. His only significant injury was a mild back strain that cost him three weeks in 2014, from which he returned to bat .395/.521/.684 the rest of the way (had Chicago not been out of contention, he might have come back sooner).

I bring this up because last year, Rizzo played more games--160--than anyone in the Senior Circuit. He played Chicago's first 79 games before sitting out, then didn't take another day off until the season's final week. With the Cubs fighting for home field advantage in the wild card game, he couldn't exactly afford many rest days, but his attendance is still impressive nevertheless.

What I found interesting was that Rizzo was able to lead the league in games played despite getting plunked 30 times, most in the majors*. On the one hand, getting hit by so many pitches is rather unfortunate (though Rizzo is mostly to blame for standing so close to the plate), but on the other hand he was incredibly fortunate to avoid injury, as one misplaced fastball is enough to end a player's season, or even his life. Cubs fans should thank their lucky stars one of those beanballs didn't shatter Rizzo's wrist or smash his cover-boy face.

*Leading one's league in hit by pitches and games played is not as rare as I originally thought. Recent examples include Prince Fielder in 2012, Carlos Delgado in 2000, and Craig Biggio in 1997. 

What I found even more interesting than Rizzo's strange feat was that he paced his circuit in games played despite missing multiple contests. The last time that happened in the National League, as far as I can tell, was never (in the modern era, at least).

It's amazing how much the games played leaderboards have changed in just the last few years. In 2005, for instance, 10 players played every game. This year, there was only one--22 year-old Manny Machado*--even though there's more young talent proliferating the sport than ever before (young players, theoretically, should be more able to play full slates).

*I would have thought this impossible after the gruesome knee injury he suffered in 2013. Professional ballplayers are just different animals, I guess...

Machado was the only player to appear in every game last year (CBS Sports)

It appears the days of Iron Men like Cal Ripken, Jr., Miguel Tejada, and Steve Garvey are over. I'm sure some of that has to do with the decrease of performance enhancing drugs in the game; players simply can't maintain the stamina needed to survive a 162 game season. They can't train as hard in the offseason, so they wear down faster during the regular season. Training regimens have also shifted, stressing weightlifting more than endurance-boosting cardio, which makes players less flexible and more prone to muscle tears.

I think the real reason for this change, though, is that managers are smarter about how to manage their players. Gone are the days of slave-drive skippers who held little regard for their players' well-being, penciling the same names into their lineup cards everyday as long as they could stand. The new, more understanding breed--the proverbial "player's manager"--is keen on providing "maintenance" days throughout the year to keep his club fresh for the stretch drive. Roster expansion allows them, heck, encourages them to employ scrub-heavy lineups over the season's final month. And those rare times when doubleheaders occur, it's even rarer to see someone play both ends of it.

Some of that, I'm sure, has to do with how much players are paid these days. Teams invest too much in their stars--the guys you'd want playing everyday--to risk them getting hurt overexerting themselves (injuries are more likely to occur when you're over-fatigued, as that's when mechanics break down). They don't want their best players on the field everyday because they have the long-term interests of the players in mind, whereas before they weren't as concerned with protecting their assets. Players aren't disposable when they're signed to nine-figure contracts. You want to take care of that new Lamborghini in the garage, not run it into the ground.

Money has also changed how players view the game. They see it as a career more than just a temporary profession, and they'll do everything in their power to extend their playing careers, and thus their earning potential, as long as possible. They don't want to play 162 games if they don't have to, as every additional game carries the risk of a career-altering injury. And don't forget, they get paid the same for playing 162 as they do for playing 62. There's no incentive for playing every game, so why do it? Taking a few days off here and there versus playing through an injury could mean the difference of millions of dollars, so how can you blame someone for erring on the side of caution?

Lastly, I get the sense that players don't have the same amount of pride their predecessors got from playing every game. Playing all 162 used to be a badge of honor, a sign of strength. It takes a tough SOB to endure 162 ballgames. Perfect attendance was an achievement to be proud of, like batting .300 or driving in 100 runs. Remember, before free agency jacked salaries through the roof, players didn't play major league baseball solely for money; they played because they loved the game. Of course they wanted to play everyday (thinking of you, Ernie Banks).

It's not that players aren't capable of playing full seasons anymore, it's just that there aren't any good reasons to. That, and nobody's forcing them to..

Castro and Rizzo Rebounding

Castro and Rizzo are enjoying big bounce back years after disappointing 2013s

Baseball fans have been spoiled by the recent, immediate success of the sport's numerous young stars. With so many guys showing up and setting the world on fire right away--Buster Posey, Jose Abreu, Jose Fernandez, Matt Harvey, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Yasiel Puig, etc.--the bar has been raised for how top prospects are expected to perform once they reach the big leagues.

What's more common is for young players to experience ups and downs, deal with the growing pains that are a natural part of the development process. The league adjusts to players, exploiting their holes and weaknesses, forcing the players to make their own adjustments that ultimately help them become better ballplayers. They're supposed to make mistakes, learn on the job through trial and error. They're supposed to fail. Just look what's happened to Xander Bogaerts, Gregory Polanco, and Kelton Wong this year. Does anybody doubt that their futures are still incredibly bright?

The Chicago Cubs recently experienced these issues with two of their most promising young position players. In 2012 both Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo were 22 years old, hailed as an up-and-coming tandem of stars that was supposed to help turn their struggling franchise around. Castro made his second straight All-Star team that year, batting .283/.323/.430 with a career-high 14 home runs and 25 steals while playing solidly above average shortstop. Worth somewhere between 3 and 3.5 WAR that year, he was easily a top-10 shortstop overall and one of the five best in the National League.

Rizzo, in his first season with Chicago after being traded by San Diego that January, started the year in Triple-A but was in the majors by the end of June and made an immediate impact, slugging four home runs in his first ten games and winning NL Rookie of the Month honors for July. Entrenched as the Cubs' everyday first baseman, he played well the rest of the way, finishing the year with a .285/.342/.463 slash line. He displayed good power as well, clubbing 15 doubles and 15 homers to go along with 48 RBI in roughly half a season (87 games).

Both appeared to be cornerstones of a rebuilding Cubs team that dropped 101 games in 2012 but had its eyes set on the future. Chicago improved marginally the following year, losing 96 games, but did so without much help from Castro and Rizzo. Castro bottomed out, flailing at the plate (hitting just .245/.284/.347 with a measly 72 OPS+) and regressing in the field, resulting in a sub-replacement level season.

Rizzo, despite once again showing good power (40 doubles, 23 dingers) and patience (76 walks), was also a disappointment. He batted only .233/.323/.419--roughly league average production when adjusted for league and park--and struck out 127 times in his first full season. He and Castro had been expected to improve, but instead appeared to take significant steps back.

This year both were selected to the NL All-Star team and appear to have gotten themselves back on track. Rizzo's emerged as one of the sport's top sluggers, with his 29 long balls just three shy of Giancarlo Stanton for the league lead. He's more than just a power hitter though, as his robust .278/.376/.510 batting line has made him one of the Senior Circuit's ten best hitters this summer, which is also evident in his high standing on many of the league's leaderboards.

Castro has also returned to form at the dish, with his .284/.333/.429 slash line nearly a dead ringer for his 2012 stats. He's one home run away from his personal best and needs only two more walks to tie his previous high. His defense has held steady compared to last year and he's all but abandoned his running game (four steals in seven attempts), but at least he's back to being one of the better-hitting shortstops in baseball.

The Cubs, who have improved again this year and can count on more hitting talent arriving shortly, have to be encouraged by these recent signs of progress. Castro and Rizzo are All-Star caliber players expected to be cornerstones of the organization's next postseason contender, which could be ready as soon as next year. For the Cubs to reach their full potential, Castro and Rizzo have to reach theirs, and based on their performance this year they appear to be doing just that.