After four full weeks of the season, 2018 is running slightly ahead of 2017 at the same point (all comparisons in this post are through four weeks). Games produced 8.93 runs per game so far, while in 2017 games came in at 8.84 runs per game. Week four in 2017 saw runs spike up, while this year runs stayed about the same as week three.
Home runs are slightly down this season, while walks and strikeout are way up. We are seeing 1.2 more K per game, which is a huge jump. The thing that surprises me, however is that despite the higher number of strikeouts, there are more in-play hits (1b, 2b, 3b), although the rise there is slight (14.50 in 2018 versus 14.42 in 2017). More strikeouts are supposed to lead to fewer hits, but that’s not the case here. I suspect the rise in walks is helping to bring the top of the lineup to the plate more often, so the better hitters are getting more of a chance in games.
More strikeouts have not led to a collapse of offense. If batters have adjusted to strikeout pitchers, maybe deception pitchers might have an advantage in this environment. CC Sabathia‘s game Sunday night might be a good example of that.
from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2Fspui4
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