FOMO

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DOUGHBOYS
Posts: 13088
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:00 pm

FOMO

Post by DOUGHBOYS » Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:45 am

The kids love their acronyms. Parents have to keep up. They have to know what their kids are saying.
'FOMO' is one of the most popular acronyms. It means Fear of Missing Out.
It also insinuates that not only could one 'miss out', but get left behind if not indulging.
We have had FOMO throughout our drafting times.

The home run was once king. We had to have our power 1B. We had to have our power outfielder. We had to have power throuhout our lineups to 'keep up'.
Stolen bases were something we could 'sprinkle in'. Pitching could wait altogether.
ARod, Griffey, Pujols, Bonds, Sosa, were all former number one picks who gave us that power.
Now?
Now we prefer our number one picks to spread the wealth in categories.
We want the possible 40-40 player like Acuna Jr or Tatis Jr.
But more than that, something else has changed altogether.
We no longer FOMO power.
Power is everywhere.

So, what is the top FOMO now ?
The almighty Strike Out.
The Strike out is similar to the way we thought about home runs back in the day.
Home runs were literally tied to three other categories. RBI RUNS AVG.
All went up when having a player hit a home run.

You may say, hey wait a minute, no other category goes up when a pitcher gets a Strike Out!
And, you'd be right.
It doesn't effect any other category on its own merit.
But a lot of us have the mindset that without a pitcher striking out a lot of batters, he cannot be an Ace.
This is what has driven up Starters in drafts.
In March, the FOMO is at its worst.
Starters who had been taken in the sixth round are driven up to the third round.
Our reckoning is that Wins, ERA, and WHIP will all ride the Strike Out train.
In reality, sometimes it does, sometimes it does not.

I dare say that FOMO of the modern Strike Out is more intense than the home run back in the day.
Adam Dunn was a player who naturally hit 40 homers every year.
We never HAD to have Adam Dunn. He didn't creep up in March during the Main Event.
But, we have seen pitchers like Robbie Ray, Matt Boyd, and others like them shoot up in drafts.
We continually draft a guy like Michael Kopech.
And each year, James Paxton disappoints, but shoots up draft boards just the same.

It's not just us. Read any article. Listen to any podcast. Read the Forecaster.
They feed FOMO.
Every pitcher that can Strike Out batters rides shotgun.
The others are in the back seat, the trunk, or hanging onto the bumper.
Who needs Kyle Hendricks when Forrest Whitley is around to tout?

No one category has had us moving up players as much as the almighty K does for us today.
We've gone from the 'draft pitchers later' to the 'One big pitcher' to the 'Two Aces'.
For our drafting mindset, the K no longer stands for Strike Outs.
It is simply, K is King. That is todays motto.
And the FOMO that accompanies the K effects us all.
Even if not afflicted with FOMO, it alters the draft board.
Especially in March when FOMO is at its peak saturation among drafters.
Personally, I've held off on FOMO.
Heck I may even have FOFOMO.
The Fear of the fear of missing out.
My friends like to make light of that.
I guess we'll find out after this year if FOMO is justified.


And FOMO has driven up the price of that K to epic proportions.
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!

Thurman15
Posts: 158
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:27 pm

Re: FOMO

Post by Thurman15 » Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:01 am

Yup, we do indeed chase the strikeout. I do it for sure. I guess most of us believe that if a pitcher can strike out a lot of batters, he will have success in the other categories as well. Often it is true. But not always. As for FOMO, again it is true. At least for me. I now generally pick 2 or 3 pitchers in the first 6 or 7 rounds. I used to pick 1 possibly 2. And you can be sure the ones I pick are big strikeout pitchers. I fear they will pass me by and I want my share. Another form of fear is we all have a couple of players we feel are really good, but get picked much later. But I fear I will miss out so I grab them 5 rounds before they ever get drafted. Now I don't do that with very many, just 1 or 2 that I must have. But I think your point is valid. Most (not all ) of us have FOMO during our drafts.
Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer with the Cardinals was once asked " You love Baseball Rogers, but what do you do in the winter ? " His response......"I stare out the window and wait for spring "

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