"I would first argue that it is foolish because no such ability actually exists. But even if we granted such an ability, those heightened performances would be coming at the expense of less production in other situations. A .275 hitter is a .275 hitter regardless of how many of his hits come in "clutch" situations. If he hits .300 in the clutch, but .250 the rest of the time, that does not improve his club's chances because his periods of .250 hitting make it less likely that there will be clutch situations."
I will attempt to respond to this with logic:
1. clearly the first observation, "foolish," comined with "no such ability actually exists," comprises a syllogistic non-starter in that they conspire to beg the question.
2. The subjunctive "if," accepting your .275 player does make room for fair comment. [Let's make him .273 for mathematical simplicity in that he's eternally 3 for 11].
If he has 550 AB and collects 150 hits [.273], and if we accept your .250 in neutral at-bats, say 320, then he has 80 hits in 320 AB probably equal to 120 TB and perhaps 40 potential runs created for those AB.
In 230 remaining AB, he's 69 for 230 at .300; and, since you've granted those are clutch situations, he's probably driven in 50-60 runs and added 104 to his TB total, now at 224. He is also a scoring potential for those 69 hits at @ 25 additional runs.
So, we are left with a guy who hits 149 hits in 550 AB, for 211 TB and 90-115 runs created. You've nearly described Tommy Henrich, whose nickname was "Ole Reliable."
Please, bear in mind, I accepted your model.
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