MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette ESPN MLB analyst Tim Kurkjian answers questions from Gabe Sinicropi, Jr, Crosscutters VP, Marketing & Public Relations during the 13th Annual Cutters Hot Stove Banquet at the Genetti Hotel Wednesday.

In more than 30 years covering Major League Baseball, Tim Kurkjian has never seen player as big, strong, fast and talented as today’s. That being said, he thinks the game should be better than it is right now.

Because of the physical gifts players have today, the ESPN MLB analyst thinks the game is being overpowered. He also thinks the shift in the approach to the game has hurt how it’s played.

“Baseball has allowed the game to become a home run-hitting contest. Strikeouts, walks, there are too many of each,” Kurkjian said Wednesday prior to the Williamsport Crosscutters’ Hot Stove Banquet at the Genetti. “It’s a paradox because the bigger, stronger, faster the players get, the less they actually understand about the game. Baserunning in the big leagues today is terrible. And I see more mental mistakes in the game than I’ve ever seen. But I’ve also seen spectacular plays because they’re so unbelievably talented.”

Kurkjian hesitates to rail against the information age which has overwhelmed baseball in recent years. He understands the importance of the data collected by teams. His father, Badrig, was a mathematician with degrees from MIT, George Washington and American University. He loves the information that’s available to the teams, media and fans.

But he also thinks the game could be paralyzed by the numbers in front of the front offices, coaching staffs and players. It’s not that he’s anti-analytics, he just believes there’s a way to balance the information with the humans who are still playing the sport. Because it’s the human beings which make the game so interesting.

Kurkjian became aware of the impact advanced metrics were having on the game when he covered the Little League World Series three years ago. He stepped into the batting cage at one point to throw batting practice to a 12-year-old hitter who was terrorizing the tournament in South Williamsport.

After his round of pitching, Kurkjian began to ask the player about his use of wood bats and if he knows the difference in how the ball reacts to his wood bats and his aluminum bat. The player was able to rattle off the average exit velocity for each bat he used.

“He should be worrying about how to run the bases, how to hit the cutoff man and how to use your footwork at first base,” Kurkjian said. “Instead we’re worrying too much about how hard do I throw, how far do I hit it and how hard do I hit it.”

Kurkjian believes there’s an opportunity for the game to move away from the age of being fascinated by launch angles and exit velocity, but it has to start at the youth level. While the information age has trickled down from Major League Baseball to the youngest leagues, he thinks it’s going to take the reverse effect to make changes in the big leagues.

That involves teaching kids how to use all fields, how to hit situationally and to better understand the fundamentals of the game before they ever get to professional baseball. Kurkjian notes it’s too late for a large majority of MLB players to make that kind of change because they’ve all been conditioned to play the game as it is right now.

“I like to see what the exit velocity is. I like to see what the pitcher’s velocity is. I like to see the difference between a curveball and a fastball, or a fastball and a change-up because that stuff is important,” Kurkjian said. “I’ve told this story before, but a prominent National League player gets to first base and talks to the prominent first baseman and he doesn’t even say hello. He just asks what’s your fly ball rate these days? First question he asked, then they started talking launch angle. That wasn’t the discussion that was going on when Pete Rose got to first base and Willie McCovey was playing there. They still had the same idea that I had to get the ball in the air if I’m going to hit it out of the park. But I think some of these statistics have strangled our players to the point where they’re no longer reacting, they’re thinking a little too much. And this is the one game where if you think too much, it can really get you in trouble.”

Kurkjian’s belief is it’s going to take baseball hitting rock bottom for the powers that be begin to make real change in how the game is played. And he believes that rock bottom occurred in October when the Dodgers and Red Sox played an 18-inning marathon which lasted longer than the entirety of the 1939 World Series.

In that game, the two teams combined for 34 strikeouts and only 18 hits. Kurkjian also points to Major League Baseball’s showcase event, the All-Star Game, where the two leagues combined for 10 home runs, nine singles and 25 strikeouts as another sign of what is wrong with the game.

“Maybe we should examine that (World Series) game. This should have been one of the five greatest games every played in history,” Kurkjian said. “But others were saying I can’t wait for this to be over.”

Kurkjian is wary of sounding like a curmudgeon and doesn’t want his criticisms to come off as hatred for the game. He just wants the game to be better.

He calls today’s collection of young players like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and the like the “greatest young crop of players I’ve ever seen, and I believe anyone has ever seen.” And it’s because this group of young players is so talented that he believes the game should be better than it is.

“I will always love this game and I still think the game is in good shape,” Kurkjian said. “The game is still incredibly healthy in so many different ways.”