 Screenshot I was watching the final outs of Detroit Tigers hurler Spencer Turnbull’s no-hitter on Tuesday, May 18 against the Seattle Mariners. It was the fifth no-hitter less than two months into the 2021 Major League Baseball season and the second time in two weeks the Mariners were no-hit. Statistically, Turnbull has not even been a good pitcher throughout his career with a 10-25 record and a 4.33 career ERA (but some of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game never threw a no-hitter and some guys who did not have very long or great careers did).
I just can’t help but feel that the game of baseball is boring now. It has turned into a three-outcome game: strikeout, walk or home run and of all these the majority outcome is the strikeout. The average batting average in baseball right now is .236, nine points lower than the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season and 16 points lower than the last full season in 2019. It is 25 points lower than it was two decades ago. Longtime baseball journalist Tim Kurkjian recently published “How the ‘K’ became the most destructive letter in Major League Baseball” for ESPN.com and I recommend the article. There are two quotes from this article that immediately stood out to me about how the strikeout is now so prevalent within the game … “It’s embarrassing,” Reggie Jackson, who holds the record for most career strikeouts in MLB history. “It’s worrisome,” Nolan Ryan, who holds the record for most batters struck in MLB history. The article includes many other quotes from those within the game, including active coaches and players who aren’t happy about the way the game is currently being played and the article mentions pitchers throwing harder than ever before, but also a change in the game’s philosophy of constantly swinging for the fences and no longer trying simply to put the ball in play. It is the change in philosophy from the hitters within the game, one that seemingly has been thrust upon the game from nerds within the front office with computer analytics, rather than past game experience, that has impacted the game most negatively from my viewpoint. Yes, pitchers throw harder than ever, with the average fastball being five MPH faster than it was just 10 years ago, and seem to have more movement on pitches than ever (which seems to at least partially be due to substances MLB is allowing pitchers to use and also not cracking down on some substances that pitchers might be getting away with), but in the Kurkjian article Washington Nationals veteran infielder Ryan Zimmerman doesn’t seem to think it’s the uptick in velocity that’s the biggest issue when it comes to strikeouts within the game. Zimmerman said, “They throw a lot hard today. I say this jokingly, but I’m an old man and I can still hit velocity because a lot of these guys don’t know how to pitch.” The not knowing how to pitch is where the walk outcome of the three outcomes comes and the biggest reason for MLB seeing an uptick in hit batters this season, which is currently on a record pace. In the same article Zimmerman believes it is the secondary pitches that are giving the batters so much hell at the plate, which are also faster than ever and with more movement due to the previous mentioned sticky substances allowing more spin than ever from the pitchers. There has been talk about changing the height of the mound or even moving it back some to give hitters better reaction times. You also have the rampant use of the defensive shift by teams these days where they have figured out where the hitters are most likely to hit a ball and set the defense up accordingly. There has been some talk over the last few years about MLB banning defensive shifts and making infielders stay in traditional zones. This would no doubt help offenses throughout the game, but I’m not a fan of baseball dictating defensive strategy. I’m more of a fan of teaching the hitters how to be better hitters. If the defense is giving you the entire left side of the field, then learn to hit the ball to that side of the field. Sometime over the last few years baseball players have been taught to swing for the fences every time at the plate and not to worry about striking out. Striking out, which used to be the most embarrassing thing a hitter could do, no longer has a negative stigma to it. It’s this home run or nothing mindset at the plate that has made pitching easier than ever and made the game less fun to watch than it’s ever been before. Home runs are cool. There’s no doubt about it. But you also need balls put in play and runners moving on the basepaths and defenders making slick plays to give the game an all around feel and make it more exciting. Otherwise, a baseball game has essentially become a home run derby, but one in which the pitches are way harder to knock out of the park. The biggest issue with baseball seems to be a mindset issue, but it’s also one that players and teams don’t really seem to be in a hurry to change. The game of baseball is hurting because of it.
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