Jesus Creed
From 1994 through 2010, hitters in April batted .264 — so that’s down 15 points.
Their on-base percentage was .345 — so that’s down 26 points.
Their slugging percentage was .421 — so that’s down almost 40 points.
But it’s more than just the averages. There has not been a single year since 1994 in which batters hit this sparsely. The lowest batting average since 1994 was last year’s .256, so that’s down. The lowest on-base percentage was .330 in 2007, so that’s way down, too. And in no season since 1994 have hitters slugged less than .400 in April.
So even just comparing April to April, early season to early season, the numbers are quite stark. That’s if you go back to 1994. But, as you probably already know, if you go back to the decade or so BEFORE 1994, well, suddenly the numbers look perfectly in line.
To remind you, this year’s core numbers: .249/.319/.382
From 1981 through 1993: .252/.322/.378Yep, that’s just about the same.
So, the narrative is clear and clean: What we have here is a return to normalcy, right? The clean narrative is that baseball has rid itself of the plague that was steroid abuse and now offense is back to normal … and that’s the whole story.
We’ll probably need two or three seasons to know for sure, but I think Joe gets this one right. Steroids are now out, numbers are now down, and we are seeing baseball as it is meant to be played. Good. Goodbye Mark, Sammy and Barry … and that’s only the top of the list.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In