We are just about a quarter through the 2007 MLB Season. Okay maybe I’m a little early seeing only seven teams have 40 games under their belt, but that’s good enough for me with all the postponed games in MLB. Besides – this way Home Run Derby will be first with a Quarterly Review.
Anyway … Back in April, the MLB Blogosphere was going all batshiat crazy about how Home Runs and Offense in general were down in baseball. Are they still? Let’s look at some YTD figures and compare them to the previous three seasons …
2007 1st Quarter
| 4/1-5/15 | AVG | SLG | RUNS | HR | AB/HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-2006 | 0.264 | 0.421 | 5,490 | 1,221 | 32.33 |
| 2007 | 0.259 | 0.404 | 5,195 | 1,058 | 37.23 |
| % Change | -2.1% | -4.0% | -5.4% | -13.3% | -15.1% |
Yep, still down. But is there hope? Let’s look at May statistics, since we’re coincidentally at the halfway point of the month. We’ll even throw in the previous three years as a benchmark.
2007 May To Date
| 5/1-5/15 | AVG | SLG | RUNS | HR | AB/HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-06 | 0.262 | 0.419 | 1,912 | 430 | 32.38 |
| 2007 | 0.262 | 0.409 | 1,834 | 377 | 36.97 |
| % Change | 0.1% | -2.5% | -4.1% | -12.3% | -14.2% |
Hrmm.  Batting Average is on par and slugging isn’t down as much … but the Scoring and Home Run stats do not make me happy.Â
I’ve said it before – if the Humidors are as widespread as some reports suggest, I think it’s the ball.
Entries (RSS)
May 16th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
The ball – could be. Or it could be the fact that steroid testing is now in its second full season.
May 16th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Steroid Testing could be a factor …
But 2006 had the biggest offensive stats of the three year span I used as my compatrative.
And ten of the sixteen players suspended under the MLB Steroid policy (beginning in 2005) have been pitchers.