First and Last?

ESPN notes that the Indians set a pitching record Saturday night.

The Cleveland Indians have become the first team in Major League Baseball history to have four pitchers reach 200 strikeouts in a season.

Mike Clevinger hit that mark with his fourth strikeout against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, joining fellow starters Carlos Carrasco (217), Trevor Bauer (215) and Corey Kluber (205).

While strikeouts keep going up, starters innings are going down. As more teams start to use openers and keep going to their bullpens early, getting enough innings, even with high K rates, is going to be tougher.

I also get the feeling there will be a backlash against strikeouts soon, and the game will be somehow altered to get more balls in play. I suspect it will be a combination of moving the mound back a bit and/or lowering the slope of the hill.

from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2I7cn98