re: MLB Thread 5/2 to 5/8

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From a staff article on ESPN.com:

MLB teams averaged 4.0 runs per game for the month of April, which is the lowest average for a month since 1981, and .26 runs per team per game fewer than a season ago.

In fact, the leaguewide batting average of .231 was the lowest through April in MLB history, and the .675 OPS was the lowest since 1968 -- aka The Year of the Pitcher.

Even with the universal DH in effect and last year being the worst offensive season for pitchers in MLB history, OPS and isolated power have all decreased from last April to this April.

Just 36% of runs this April came via home runs, the lowest total through April since 2015. Teams have the data, they see how hard balls are being hit and the launch angle, and baseballs that were going out of the park last season are getting caught this season.

ESPN reviewed batted balls that were hit with an exit velocity between 102 and 105 mph and a launch angle between 27 and 29 degrees -- considered the power sweet-spot. They compared these at indoor venues only so weather would not be a factor. In prior years, 85% of balls hit in this frame went out of the park. This year, it's only been 43%.

MLB sent a memo to all teams telling them that the ball would be changed to try to reduce home runs, with an estimate that fly balls would lose a couple of feet. At least so far, the changes have resulted in a far more drastic reduction.

This is likely compounded by the use of humidors in all 30 MLB parks. In stadiums that had already been using the humidors, home runs are only down by 0.7%. Those that started using them this year, the reduction is 2.4%. That comes out to 13.1 more ABs to see a home run over last season.

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Will Middlebrooks

@middlebrooks

Talked to a player today that told me 5 balls had to be thrown out of play last night bc they had dents in them… C’mon man.

11:06 AM · Apr 28, 2022

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