Balls are flying out way too easily

[amnesiac]

I know this has been the story for a few years now, and sure it makes the games exciting, but all these homeruns is a little too much now. Youd think theyre playing on top of Everest.

Lowe was reaching for the ball that went opposite field and out. Let alone Arozarena and Seager suddenly looking like regular 50 HR hitters in these playoffs.

Is it too much?

[spliff(TONE)]

Nope.

[More-Than-Most]

hell no.... we need more. The sport needs more offense which is why the extra inning rule is staying along with the DH : )

[dodgerdave]

I miss the frequent no-hitters.

[spliff(TONE)]

Frequent no-hitters? There were two of those this year in a sixty game season, which would equate to like 5-6 in a full 162 game season (which seems somewhere between standard and the higher end one would expect).

[dodgerdave]

I'm talking about the Domino-no era. It seemed like there were no-hitters every several weeks. I remember frequently redeeming codes. That's before the baseballs were juiced.

[spliff(TONE)]

I'm talking about the Domino-no era. It seemed like there were no-hitters every several weeks. I remember frequently redeeming codes. That's before the baseballs were juiced.

We all love free pizza but your memory isn't serving you too well. The DomiNoNo promotion was ran from 2013 through 2015 (as far as I can tell). In 2013 there were three no-hitters, in 2014 there were 5 no-hitters, and in 2015 there were 7 no-hitters. So in two of those three years, no-hitters were thrown at a lesser rate than in 2020 and in one of those years, no-hitters were being thrown at a very slightly higher rate.

I do recall cashing in on one of those opportunities. Probably the only time I've eaten Domino's pizza in my life tbh.

[dodgerdave]

We all love free pizza but your memory isn't serving you too well. The DomiNoNo promotion was ran from 2013 through 2015 (as far as I can tell). In 2013 there were three no-hitters, in 2014 there were 5 no-hitters, and in 2015 there were 7 no-hitters. So in two of those three years, no-hitters were thrown at a lesser rate than in 2020 and in one of those years, no-hitters were being thrown at a very slightly higher rate.

I do recall cashing in on one of those opportunities. Probably the only time I've eaten Domino's pizza in my life tbh.

2009-15 was roughly the era of the no-hitter. You know what the **** I'm talking about. 2020 is too small of a sample size to be making comparisons.

[ciaban2.0]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH81s3BtdB4

[crewfan13]

hell no.... we need more. The sport needs more offense which is why the extra inning rule is staying along with the DH : )

I think more than just "more offense" is that baseball needs more action. Home runs are fun, but balls in play more often are more exciting. The juiced ball just further drives home the 3 true outcome approach. More KS, more BBs and more HRs at the expense of everything else.

Pace of play is always a focus but a better focus should be time between action, which has been ever climbing.

To me, the solution isn't more homers. It does back to deadening the ball but shrinking the strike zone. Smaller zone means more hittable pitches and deadened balls mean pitchers aren't as afraid to attack the zone. Go back to the days where guys would rather throw a 3-1 meatball to the 7 hitter and make him earn his way on base instead of walk him because you're afraid of him going yard.

[crewfan13]

Like I said, I know dingers are fun and all, but I'm in my mid 30s. When I was young, I watched sports center and baseball tonight and all that crap religiously. And during baseball season, what was the best part? It was the top 10 riddled with great defensive plays and the web gems section. Get more balls in play and get back to more of those types of plays. Plus, homers will still happen and they'll be more fun since you don't see 4 a game.

[Crovash]

Home runs are definitely up, and while they are a great part of the game — though I still prefer the double with a man on first — their increase in recent years has been accompanied by an annoying proliferation of strikeouts.

For example, in 2020 there were 15,586 strikeouts and only 14,439 hits in 66506 plate appearances. Add the 6,092 walks issued and 821 hit batsmen in the season, and you see the ball in play far less than in years past.

To put that in historical context, consider that in 2020, K/BB/HP comprised 33.8% of the plate appearances, just a notch up from the 2019 figure of 32.6%.

In 2005 it was 25.6%.
In 1990 it was 24.1%.
In 1975 it was 22.5%.

Any wonder that the games drag on and on when over 1 in 3 plate appearances end up in a strikeout, walk, or hit batsman (used to be closer to 1 in 4.5).

Strikeouts alone in 2020 outpaced hits by a factor of 1.08 (15586 to 14439), the fourth season in a row there have been more K than H. In 1975, the factor was 0.57.

[WOwolfOL]

Home runs are definitely up, and while they are a great part of the game — though I still prefer the double with a man on first — their increase in recent years has been accompanied by an annoying proliferation of strikeouts.

For example, in 2020 there were 15,586 strikeouts and only 14,439 hits in 66506 plate appearances. Add the 6,092 walks issued and 821 hit batsmen in the season, and you see the ball in play far less than in years past.

To put that in historical context, consider that in 2020, K/BB/HP comprised 33.8% of the plate appearances, just a notch up from the 2019 figure of 32.6%.

In 2005 it was 25.6%.
In 1990 it was 24.1%.
In 1975 it was 22.5%.

Any wonder that the games drag on and on when over 1 in 3 plate appearances end up in a strikeout, walk, or hit batsman (used to be closer to 1 in 4.5).

Strikeouts alone in 2020 outpaced hits by a factor of 1.08 (15586 to 14439), the fourth season in a row there have been more K than H. In 1975, the factor was 0.57.

If only we had pitch fx and the like back in the bicentennial. I'd love to see how those hitters would fare if 80% of the pitchers they faced were throwing 95+ with 85+ "offspeed". Or if all those lefty hitters faced a shift every AB and pinpoint precise defensive alignment for every hitter. You'd be looking at a lot less hits.

What's interesting is that throughout the 70s the league BABIP hit a high of .287, once it was .286, and in no other season did it eclipse .283. This year it was .292, but it was a short season. Throughout the last decade it never dropped below .295.

So you had a lot of guys that put the ball in play not worrying about contact efficiency. You now have a league-wide concerted effort to eschew the "put it in play" mindset, in favor of the work the pitcher & let it rip mentality. The fallout was inevitable. And to me its still an extremely exciting sport to watch.

[Crovash]

If only we had pitch fx and the like back in the bicentennial. I'd love to see how those hitters would fare if 80% of the pitchers they faced were throwing 95+ with 85+ "offspeed". Or if all those lefty hitters faced a shift every AB and pinpoint precise defensive alignment for every hitter. You'd be looking at a lot less hits.

What's interesting is that throughout the 70s the league BABIP hit a high of .287, once it was .286, and in no other season did it eclipse .283. This year it was .292, but it was a short season. Throughout the last decade it never dropped below .295.

So you had a lot of guys that put the ball in play not worrying about contact efficiency. You now have a league-wide concerted effort to eschew the "put it in play" mindset, in favor of the work the pitcher & let it rip mentality. The fallout was inevitable. And to me its still an extremely exciting sport to watch.

Indeed, the game has changed. Four or five different pitchers per game, all throwing heat, etc. Analytics. Constant shifting. Launch angles and exit velocity. Efficiency. Juiced balls. Smaller parks. It all adds up to a new formula for success. I get it.

And to me, it drags.

[dodgerdave]

I kind of wish the balls were juiced before Safeco Field, Citi Field, and Petco Park moved up their fences.