"Year of the Pitcher"

[Brutus]

This has been thrown around a lot this season. While I think there's some truth to the core of young arms in baseball right now, it's interesting that offensive stats are down to pre-strike levels (read: pre-steroid levels).

I retrieved data for the last 30 years. Homers are down to a 17-year low. I think Citi Field, Comerica, Petco and some of these more spacious ballparks give hope that the homer-happy days of Major League Baseball could again be over for a while (these things always run in cycles anyhow).

Interestingly, though, strikeout rates are at an all-time high. That's partially because of the new, pitch-taking, homer-happy strategy... though the 3-run homers aren't as common these days.

But here's the 30-year data. It's interesting.

Year	R/G	  HR	 BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	K%	BB%	HR%
2010	4.42	 3,342 	0.259	0.327	0.406	0.733	18.2%	8.6%	2.5%
2009	4.61	 5,042 	0.262	0.333	0.418	0.751	18.0%	8.9%	2.7%
2008	4.65	 4,878 	0.264	0.333	0.416	0.749	17.5%	8.7%	2.6%
2007	4.80	 4,957 	0.268	0.336	0.423	0.758	17.1%	8.5%	2.6%
2006	4.86	 5,386 	0.269	0.337	0.432	0.768	16.8%	8.4%	2.9%
2005	4.59	 5,017 	0.264	0.330	0.419	0.749	16.5%	8.2%	2.7%
2004	4.81	 5,451 	0.266	0.335	0.428	0.763	16.9%	8.6%	2.9%
2003	4.73	 5,207 	0.264	0.333	0.422	0.755	16.4%	8.5%	2.8%
2002	4.62	 5,059 	0.261	0.331	0.417	0.748	16.8%	8.7%	2.7%
2001	4.78	 5,458 	0.264	0.332	0.427	0.759	17.3%	8.5%	2.9%
2000	5.14	 5,693 	0.270	0.345	0.437	0.782	16.5%	9.6%	3.0%
1999	5.08	 5,528 	0.271	0.345	0.434	0.778	16.4%	9.4%	2.9%
1998	4.79	 5,064 	0.266	0.335	0.420	0.755	16.9%	8.7%	2.7%
1997	4.77	 4,640 	0.267	0.337	0.419	0.756	17.1%	8.9%	2.6%
1996	5.04	 4,962 	0.270	0.340	0.427	0.767	16.5%	9.1%	2.8%
1995	4.85	 4,081 	0.267	0.338	0.417	0.755	16.2%	9.1%	2.6%
1994	4.92	 3,306 	0.270	0.339	0.424	0.763	15.9%	8.9%	2.7%
1993	4.60	 4,030 	0.265	0.332	0.403	0.736	15.1%	8.7%	2.3%
1992	4.12	 3,038 	0.256	0.322	0.377	0.700	14.7%	8.5%	1.9%
1991	4.31	 3,383 	0.256	0.323	0.385	0.708	15.2%	8.7%	2.1%
1990	4.26	 3,317 	0.258	0.325	0.385	0.710	14.9%	8.6%	2.1%
1989	4.13	 3,083 	0.254	0.320	0.375	0.695	14.8%	8.5%	1.9%
1988	4.14	 3,180 	0.254	0.318	0.378	0.696	14.7%	8.1%	2.0%
1987	4.72	 4,458 	0.263	0.331	0.415	0.747	15.5%	8.9%	2.8%
1986	4.41	 3,813 	0.258	0.326	0.395	0.721	15.4%	8.8%	2.4%
1985	4.33	 3,602 	0.257	0.323	0.391	0.714	14.0%	8.6%	2.2%
1984	4.26	 3,258 	0.260	0.323	0.385	0.708	14.0%	8.3%	2.0%
1983	4.31	 3,301 	0.261	0.325	0.389	0.714	13.5%	8.4%	2.1%
1982	4.30	 3,379 	0.261	0.324	0.389	0.713	13.2%	8.3%	2.1%
1981	4.00	 1,781 	0.256	0.320	0.369	0.689	12.5%	8.4%	1.7%
1980	4.29	 3,087 	0.265	0.326	0.388	0.714	12.5%	8.2%	1.9%

[The Operator]

I've been enjoying it. It's been frustrating to watch The Reds, with such a highly ranked offense, get shutout so many times, but it's a nice change after all of the steroid years.

It's kinda cool to look at the home run leader board and see that even the top guys are on pace for around 40-45.

[Brutus]

I've been enjoying it. It's been frustrating to watch The Reds, with such a highly ranked offense, get shutout so many times, but it's a nice change after all of the steroid years.

It's kinda cool to look at the home run leader board and see that even the top guys are on pace for around 40-45.

Yep. Take away Jose Bautista, who is truly his own exception to the rule this year, and only a select few players are even on pace to break 40 homers. There are a lot of perennial 30-homer guys stuck in the teens and low 20's this year.