Alex Rodriguez makes boneheaded comment on Sunday Night Baseball

The KayRod broadcast made its debut on Sunday night during Red Sox vs Yankees, with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez taking centerstage. A-Rod stole the show.

The KayRod broadcast made its debut to mixed reviews, with some not liking that it was a blatant copy of the Manningcast broadcast for Monday Night Football, only with two men who quite clearly don’t have the same camaraderie as Eli and Peyton.

Such a model is tough to replicate, but it had its moments. For one, David Ortiz made an appearance to roast his good friend and former rival, A-Rod, in the middle of Red Sox-Yankees. While silly, it was appropriate given the two faced off in said rivalry for over a decade.

But Rodriguez lost most fans with one classic, old-head comment which is as false as they come.

Alex Rodriguez on the game today: The more strikeouts the better

Are strikeouts literally incentivized in contracts? No, Rodriguez is not saying this. He is, however, complaining about the emphasis on power rather than contact, which forces batters to strike out at a greater clip rather than learning to hit against the shift, and find more ways on base.

There’s nothing wrong with a single, double and so on. But advanced statistics do put a value on putting the ball in play, as well as barrel rate, how hard a player hits the ball and their batting average on balls put in play. And that’s just the beginning.

Striking out a lot — despite the fact that K’s are sky high — is not something hitters choose to do. It’s in large part due to the incredible pitching in today’s game. Simply slapping the ball the other way, or hitting it where they ain’t, isn’t as easy when a hurler pitches directly to said shift.