LOS ANGELES – Baseball’s deep dive into statistical analysis has created a new language of exit velocities, launch angles, FIPs, WHIPs and BABIPs.
But this is another new concept courtesy of the analytics crowd – a 37-year-old “bounce-back candidate.”
Chase Utley posted career-lows across the board offensively last season. A .212 batting average, .286 on-base percentage, .629 OPS and only eight home runs in more than 400 plate appearances. Combined with the fact that he would turn 37 in December, the numbers seemed to scream of a player in decline. His 140 plate appearances with the Dodgers over the final two months of the season didn’t paint any prettier a picture (he hit .