There's also a difference between a heightened ability to perform in clutch situations versus an ability to make adjustments in various situations based on the leverage indexes of various outcomes. For example, with runners on first and second, with zero or one out, and the offensive team down by two, the value of an extra base hit is very high, and the cost of a double play is high. With a runner on third and less than two outs, the cost of a strikeout or short flyball is high. Rather than looking at some broad 'performing in the clutch' skill, it would be worth looking at whether some players are able to adjust their approach in subtle ways to focus on giving themselves a better chance at achieving an outcome that has a high leverage factor in particular game situations.
In that regard, it could be interesting to see some sort of matrix charting out whether some players are better able to achieve specific highly leveraged positive outcomes and avoid specific highly leveraged negative outcomes based on different game situations. It's not clutch in the traditional sense, but it's a way of looking at situation hitting in a way that may provide some reproducible ability-based variance in leveraged game situations that could be percieved as, and have value as clutch.
|