I can’t be the only one who is sick of MLB turning into home run derby, am I?

[membengal]

I feel like it would be nice if the Reds hitters would try out this homer friendly environment. It seems to be passing them by.

[Spanky]

Where are you on throwing breaking balls to players who refuse to learn to hit breaking balls? Or throwing it up in the zone to players like Puig who can't lay off that pitch?

Is it really fair to let your first baseman stand at the bag when the runner is contemplating stealing second base and needs to lead off as far as possible?

Baseball has a problem when it comes to entertainment, it's not very entertaining for the casual baseball fan to sit there and watch 5-7 innings of no offense. which is why they have juiced the ball and is why people are discussing the possibility of eliminating shifts. baseball needs to be able to keep it's audience entertained and casual fans find hitting much more entertaining than pitching and walks. no mater how much you want the game to not change and remain "pure" it will never happen. the sport is always changing because it has to in order to survive. we could go back to having the players tell the pitcher where they want the ball to be thrown if that's what you would like because that is baseball in it's original form. The N.L. is going to add the DH because no one wants to watch pitchers hit .100 and no one goes to a baseball game for the excitement of a double switch. the league will always be looking for a way to make the game more entertaining and the easiest way to do that is to try and make the game easier for each teams offense, one obstacle in the way is the shift and i won't be surprised if there is some sort of rule put in place in the near future limiting the amount of fielders on each side of 2B.

[Tony Cloninger]

I feel like it would be nice if the Reds hitters would try out this homer friendly environment. It seems to be passing them by.

It sure did in 1997-98. They were playing 80s baseball more than Powering up. The liked to steal bases a lot more.

Which is another thing that made baseball more exciting but it’s not going back there since it’s a no no now.

[westofyou]

This is small part of a Joe P article

There are four numbers I have started using to determine what KIND of game we are watching. You can look at these four numbers and, in general, get the general flow and rhythm of baseball in that time period.

Number 1: Batting average on connected balls. This is like Batting Average on Balls in Play, except it also counts home runs.
Number 2: Slugging percentage on connected balls.
Number 3: Home runs per connected ball.
Number 4: Strikeouts per nine inning game (two-team total).

Let's start in Deadball. What kind of game was that? Let's look at those four numbers:

Batting average: .285
Slugging: .373
Homers per connection: 1 in 200
Strikeouts per game: Seven or so.

From 1920 to 1940, the numbers shifted somewhat:

Average: .309
Slugging: .437
Homers per connection: 1 in 67
Strikeouts per game: Six or seven.

After World War II, baseball settled into a balance that held for almost 50 years. In fact, the rhythm was SO clear, that many people assumed that baseball had found its equilibrium and the game would stay the same forever.

From 1946-1993:

Average: .302
Slugging: .451
Homers per connection: 1 in 36
Strikeouts per game: Slowing increasing from 9 to 12.

Sure, there were outlier seasons. In 1968, and 1987


From 1994-2014, 21 seasons, the numbers stayed right there:
Average: .328
Slugging: .519
Homers per connectiom: 1 in 27
Strikeouts per game: 13 (1994-2008), 14 (2009-11), 15 (2012-14)

• This was now becoming a fundamentally different game. Batters were crushing the ball with such authority, that in some ways they were taking the game out of the hands of the defense. Pitchers had to step up.

• And pitchers stepped up. Strategies changed. Managers began to build super-staffs of 100-mph throwing behemoths. And with the rapid rise of the strikeout, pitchers actually were dominating the game by 2014. That year, teams averaged just 4.07 runs per game, the fewest in 40 years.

The evolution is now in hyperdrive.

From 2015-present:
Average: .332
Slugging: .545
Homers per connection: 1 per 23 connections
Strikeouts per game: 16 (2016-17), 17 (2018), 18 (so far in 2019).

Here's what you might expect to see in a baseball game in April of 2019 -- 76 plate apperances of which 18 will end in a strikeout. That means 58 balls in play, of which three or four are likely to be doubles and three are likely to be homers.

Triples are almost nonexistent so far (Kansas City's Adalberto Mondesi notwithstanding) as are stolen bases.

Fielders will be responsible for just 36 outs even though fielders are probably better than they've ever been in baseball history.
My point is that the people who fight against change because they consider themselves traditionalists are missing the big picture here. The game HAS changed, and it IS changing, and if "tradition" is what matters to you, then you should be in the front of the line screaming that they need to move the game back into balance.

[JFLegal]

jesse winker could barely hit home runs in the minors.

this year with the reds? he might club 30 bombs if he stays healthy. i definitely believe the ball is juiced.

[Spanky]

jesse winker could barely hit home runs in the minors.

this year with the reds? he might club 30 bombs if he stays healthy. i definitely believe the ball is juiced.

I don't think there is any doubt about the ball being juiced,I mean Christian yelich is on pace to hit 92 Homers this season. prior to last season the most homers he hit in 1 season was 21 that's a 430% increase if it keeps up (it wont).

[RedsManRick]

I think the game is much more aesthetically pleasing with more contact and less power. I'm not sure how we get from here to there.

[westofyou]

I think the game is much more aesthetically pleasing with more contact and less power. I'm not sure how we get from here to there.

Bring back astroturf, 12 foot walls and down the line make it at least a 360 feet minimum would be a good start

[Spanky]

Bring back astroturf, 12 foot walls and down the line make it at least a 360 feet minimum would be a good start

Also have them swing pool noodles instead of bats.

[RED VAN HOT]

I feel like it would be nice if the Reds hitters would try out this homer friendly environment. It seems to be passing them by.

Maybe they are trying to do just that. Perhaps multiple players are attempting to change launch angle in an attempt to take advantage of a homer friendly park. The trend is throughout baseball, but it would make even more sense for the Reds and their park.

In one of the Reds-Padres games Mark Grant had some stats for Hosmer comparing average launch angle last year with this year. Differences were dramatic. Do we have such data for Reds players?

I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea of what the players are being taught this year. But HR's are 1.38/game this year compared to 1.08/game last year despite the fact that the heavy homer months are still ahead of them in 2019. It would appear that the Reds are paying a price in batting average, down from .254 last year to .197 this year.

[OGB]

I don't know what should be done to fix it, but I'm feeling more and more like the game has become relatively unwatchable.*
Count me amongst those who have come around to the idea of banning the shift. I'm for a 3 OF minimum and 2 infielders on each half of the diamond.
I used to share with many the philosophy that if they're going to essentially give you 30-40% of the infield undefended, learn to hit it there.
I'm now convinced that's simply never going to happen.

*I still love watching the Reds but even their games are less entertaining. I'm bored to tears watching other teams.

[Redsfaithful]

Admittedly, I haven't watched the Reds that much in the last few years, but I've been watching them again this year, and it's just brutal. I enjoy the good Reds pitching, particularly someone like Castillo, so it's not all a waste, but a handful of hits a game night in and night out is rough. Some of it is they're slumping of course, but it really is super boring seeing guys in shallow right field throw out the runner at first.

[westofyou]

Also have them swing pool noodles instead of bats.

I just passed a display of them in the store... tis the season

[M2]

I don't know if they're back to the juiced ball again this year. Yet there's biological driver under what WOY posted. We've got pitchers who throw harder and batters who hit it farther. Strikeouts and homers are the inevitable consequence of better players. If you make a mistake over the middle of the plate, it leaves the park. Meanwhile, there's a lot of ABs where pitchers paint the edges of the strike zone with pure filth.

[RiverRat13]

Ban the shift, deaden the ball, lower the mound and go with the 3 batter/end of inning rule. Not sure I’m there for any of those changes, but I think if you did all of them you’d lessen the three true outcomes.