Machado complained about "too much data": What is WCCVBB

Recently, the San Diego Padres have been struggling, dropping 10 of their last 11 contests prior to today, with six consecutive losses. Machado, the team's star third baseman who has had a subpar batting year, complained unexpectedly to reporters that the amount of data is overwhelming and he wishes to return to traditional ways, focusing purely on playing baseball.

According to Dennis Lin of *The Athletic*, Machado remarked: "Baseball is evolving, and it's getting harder and harder to play, with more strategy involved. I just want to set aside all the analytics for now. There's so much data—it's dizzying. Half of it I can't even understand. Sometimes I ask, 'What is WCCVBB? How are these names even invented?' Just keeping up with all this is already crazy."

There is no actual stat called WCCVBB, but there are indeed some abbreviations that players or fans unfamiliar with analytics might struggle to understand, such as xwOBAcon. To address this, many MLB teams have positions like quality control coaches, serving as a bridge between the front office, analytics department, coaching staff, and players. Teams that emphasize analytics often hire people with playing experience for such roles, explaining the findings and conclusions from the analytics department in simpler, more straightforward terms to the players.

For Machado, the simplest way to simplify all this is: "Just go back to the old-school approach. See the ball, hit the ball. At the end of the day, it's about competing. You have to go out there, put the analytics aside, compete against the opponent, try to catch the ball, and get outs, right? It's a team sport. Defend well and you win. Score one more run than the opponent and you win. That's what we need to focus on."

When asked if he had seen Padres young players overwhelmed by the information provided by the team, Machado said: "I don't know. Maybe they're used to it because they grew up with this stuff. But there must be some people who get exhausted by all this data. I don't know if we have anyone like that on our team, but there certainly are others out there."