Quote:
Originally Posted by lewdog
I read somewhere that league batter average is the lowest it's ever been at this point of the season.
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And by quite a bit. But if the article you're thinking of was the recent one on fangraphs about the spike (again) of no-hit bids, I believe they were comparing the season to date (cold weather, shortened spring training) to prior
full seasons. Offense heats up as the season progresses. But still, that doesn't account for it all; it's a noticeable thing. Only question is how much offense will come back as the weather warms up. I'm thinking not all that much of it.
An excerpt:
Quote:
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Pitchers (and their teams, as this includes combined efforts) are taking no-hitters into the sixth once for every 38.4 starts thus far this season, compared to once for every 58.5 starts last year and once for every 60.4 starts for the recent seasons that did not have truncated spring trainings. Putting it another way: thus far, they’re 57% more common relative to that “normal season” baseline.
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Another:
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Here’s the kicker: Batting averages have never been this low. Not in the 19th century, not in the deadball era, not even in 1968, “The Year of the Pitcher”
On a major league-wide basis, batting averages are six points lower than they’ve ever been. In the 1880s, errors — about four per team per game, leading to over 40% of runs being unearned — helped to elevate scoring rates above their 1960s lows; now it’s home runs driving the scoring. We’re getting fewer of those than in recent years
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Link to article:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/welcome-...less-baseball/