BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: S.I.: Verducci: From sluggers galore to sluggers no more, the power’s out in the AL

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

S.I.: Verducci: From sluggers galore to sluggers no more, the power’s out in the AL

Wait...I just heard Dos Dweebs on the radio saying that the power outage was because all the players are now afraid to take “those steroid things”! (Mikey!)

With one quarter of the season gone, the hardest hitting being done in the American League are the whacks applied nightly to the league’s reputation as a hitter’s haven. The AL has become a pitchers’ league. This takes some getting used to, unless you’d prefer not to, of course, and put your faith in the last three-quarters of the season taking a head-spinning U-turn and bringing back those 9-8 games of AL mythology.

Deny it if you will, but something really weird is going on here. The AL, home to the DH, slugfests, and scoreboards and ERAs that explode, has gone soft. Fewer runs are scored in AL games than in the NL. Runs and home runs in the AL have sunk to their lowest levels since 1992, the year before expansion helped trigger the greatest slugging boom the game has ever seen.

Compared to league stats through May of last season, runs are down eight percent and home runs are down 20 percent in the AL. (Offense is up slightly in the NL, by the way.) At this rate almost 300 home runs will be sucked out of the league in one year, and more than 600 from as recently as 2004. The league batting average (.259) has not been worse over a full season since 1976.

Repoz Posted: May 14, 2008 at 02:47 PM | 8 comment(s)
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1. dcba Posted: May 14, 2008 at 03:14 PM (#2780651)

Half-arsed look at some numbers without any context:

The National League batters are younger(average age: 28.9 vs. 29.4) and the pitchers are older (29.2 vs. 28.7).

And cripes...in addition to rough starts for Ortiz & Hafner, we've seen Miguel Olivo, Jose Vidro & Shannon Stewart at the designated "hitter" position. Where's Micah Owings when you need him.

2. Dan Szymborski Posted: May 14, 2008 at 04:21 PM (#2780783)

April 2007 AL ERA: 4.29
May 2007 AL ERA: 4.51

April 2008 AL ERA: 4.25
May 2008 AL ERA: 3.83

April 2007 NL ERA: 3.98
May 2007 NL ERA: 4.25

April 2008 NL ERA: 4.10
May 2008 NL ERA: 4.52

Conclusion? Jason Grilli, traded from the Tigers to the Rockies on 4/30, is the sole supplier of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

3. Joe C isn't Posted: May 14, 2008 at 05:24 PM (#2780901)

It's only May 14 - I guess we have to fill all this column space with something though, don't we.

4. The Jerry Royster Experience Posted: May 14, 2008 at 05:31 PM (#2780921)

It's only May 14 - I guess we have to fill all this column space with something though, don't we.

It is sort of interesting, though - it's not often the NL outscores the AL over a six-week period.

At this point, though, there's not much to be said other than "that's sort of interesting".

5. Los Angeles Waterloo of Black Hawk Posted: May 14, 2008 at 05:50 PM (#2780968)

Zack Greinke? Joe Saunders? Shawn Marcum? Greg Smith? Who are these guys and what the heck has happened to the AL as we knew it?

Is he seriously asking who these guys are? I mean, I know he's not ... but Greinke was the 6th pick in the draft and was very good in 122 IP last year, Saunders was the 12th pick in the draft and was above-average last year, Shaun Marcum was a third-round pick who was pretty good last year, and it's not like Greg Smith is someone who had a bad minor league career or anything. Sure, they're performing above what we'd expect, but it's not like these are strangers to us.

6. The Jerry Royster Experience Posted: May 14, 2008 at 05:55 PM (#2780974)

they're performing above what we'd expect, but it's not like these are strangers to us.

They're probably strangers to Verducci, though.

7. Never Thought of Listach as a Sexual Reference Posted: May 14, 2008 at 07:59 PM (#2781132)

Well, Brian Stokes and Casey Fossum are no longer pitching for Tampa; Danys Baez and Paul Shuey are no longer on the Orioles.

That's like half a run for the league right there.

Also, pitching coach Rick Kranitz taught Daniel Cabrera to keep the ball down...

... but hitters still might adjust.

8. Chris Dial Posted: May 14, 2008 at 08:04 PM (#2781139)

It's because the AL is about 10% worse than the NL. The ~~Red Sox~~ Rays would win about 10 fewer games in the NL.

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

S.I.: Verducci: From sluggers galore to sluggers no more, the power’s out in the AL

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