Week one of the 2017 saw the majors trailing their 2016 number, but week two puts 2017 ahead. Through the first two weeks of the season, games average 8.49 runs per game, versus 8.36 runs per game for the same period in 2016. (Note all comparisons in this series are through the same week of the season. Home runs and walks are up, while other hits are down, pretty much continuing the trend that showed up when comparing 2016 to 2015. There are only very slightly more batters reaching base, but with more power behind them, they score more often. Strikeouts are down slightly, which should be a good thing for offense. If the majors can manage a drop in strikeouts without a decrease in power, offense would boom.
Note that 2017 passed 2016 not because offense got better in week two, but because there was less of a drop in offense compared to 2016. The chart on this spreadsheet shows runs per game per week since 2015. In all three years there was a drop in offense in week two, but the drop in 2016 was huge. (I assume the drop is caused by better pitchers getting two starts in the week due to the lack of games in week one.) The chart is also nice as it shows how the offensive surge in the second half of 2015 carried through 2016.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2oDsSjt
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