The statistic of Runs Batted In has been devalued in recent years, but one player still finds it important.
Pete Alonso was asked after his New York Mets’ 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday whether he sees a lot of value in RBIs. The question came after a game where Alonso knocked in the only run of the game. He hit an opposite field fly ball that dropped in for a single.
Alonso said RBIs were “for sure” valuable.
Pete Alonso was asked about analytics devaluing RBI totals:
"It's a run-scoring competition, it's not a hit competition."
On people who devalue RBIs: "I think they don't necessarily understand baseball." pic.twitter.com/sQAyhMskzd
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 14, 2022
“It’s a run-scoring competition; it’s not a hit competition,” Alonso said. “People who don’t really think that, I think they don’t necessarily understand baseball.”
Alonso is right. Maybe in some corners, the RBI has become undervalued. And maybe some hitters don’t do their best to drive in runs. Knocking in runners is important and the name of the game.
But RBIs are still an imperfect stat, because at times they can reflect the amount of chances a player has to knock in a run, rather than how good the player has been at knocking in the runs.
Alonso’s 97 RBIs this season have him second in MLB behind only Aaron Judge.
