Bad hitters… What happened to MLB?

The Major League’s average batting average for this season is 0.241. The total number of hits is 21,078, down more than 1,300 from the same period last year. The number of home runs is 5,079, which is nearly 800 fewer than last year. The score is 7,628 points, 600 fewer than last year. According to the U.S. “The Athletic,” the number of home runs is the lowest since 2015, and the number of hits per game is the lowest since 1968. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers has recorded an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.031, but why has the league’s offensive power been on the decline.

Milwaukee left fielder Christian Yelich (33) said, “Pitchers can now know which pitches are good and bad through data analysis, high-speed cameras, and trackmen, and what kind of pitches they should throw. In the past, there was no way to know the quality of the pitch except for the catcher to tell the pitcher, ‘This pitch is not good,’ but now it is not.”

“Pitchers are much better. Their spin and speed are record high,” Toronto outfielder George Springer (35) said. “They throw balls over 100 miles per hour, and 60 percent of them are sliders.” This means that fastballs are faster and the ratio of breaking balls has increased. 슬롯사이트

The number of pitches a pitcher can throw has also become more diverse than before. According to Statcast indicators, Kansas City ace pitcher Seth Lugo (35) threw five types of pitches in 2016, when he made his Major League debut, but now he can throw eight types of pitches. It is much more difficult for batters to predict the trajectory of flying balls.

Some batting coaches in the Major League are devising ways to use lightweight bats to cope with balls that increase in speed. Some analysts say that unusually hot weather reduces batters’ offensive power.

“Pitchers are innovating faster than hitters, but they have not made any corresponding progress in terms of hitting,” a Major League Baseball official told The Athletic. Yelich, however, said that “attacks are a big part of the game,” adding that “fans don’t want to see their teams lose throughout the ninth inning. I can still play aggressive.”