It was Sir Isaac Newton who said: “Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who sets the planets in motion.”
Math answers most questions, but there still are mysteries of the universe, the incalculable intangibles.
That leads us to Sir Isaac’s fellow “Noot,” this being St. Louis’ Lars Nootbaar. See, his sport isn’t really a game at all — it’s an equation. It’s pitch speed and spin rate, launch angle and exit velocity. Its inning, count, score, outs and how many runners are on base. It’s OPS and OPS+, bWAR and fWAR, WHIP and wOBA. It’s masterminding matchups and mining for data that gives your team an edge. It’s calculus.
