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Will the Atlanta Braves Support the Commissioner’s odd Pace of Play Plans?

By Fred Owens

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's latest ideas on pace of game and gambling are at best strange and at worst disingenuous.. How will the Atlanta Braves vote on these things when the time comes? Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's latest ideas on pace of game and gambling are at best strange and at worst disingenuous.. How will the Atlanta Braves vote on these things when the time comes? Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /
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Strikeouts are up but the zone isn't the reason
Strikeouts are up but the zone isn’t the reason Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

How’d that work out?

The net effect on hits since the last change is minimal.

Year Hits Hits/Gm Year Hits Hits/Gm
2016 1409 8.70 1982 1448 8.94
2015 1404 8.67 1983 1440 8.89
2014 1387 8.56 1984 1438 8.88
2013 1403 8.66 1985 1415 8.73
2012 1402 8.65 1986 1418 8.75
2011 1409 8.70 1987 1458 9.00
2010 1418 8.75 1988 1394 8.60
2009 1451 8.96 1989 1396 8.62
2008 1466 9.05 1990 1416 8.74
2007 1499 9.25 1991 1406 8.68
2006 1502 9.27 1992 1406 8.68
2005 1466 9.05 1993 1467 9.06
2004 1484 9.16 1994 1062 9.32
2003 1469 9.07 1995 1321 9.17
2002 1442 8.90
2001 1463 9.03 Source
2000 1508 9.31 www.Babseball-Reference.com
1999 1511 9.33
1998 1483 9.15
1997 1481 9.14
1996 1511 9.33

Over 21 seasons teams have lost 0.61 hits per game and I’d suggest that the increase was more due to a needle than a change in the zone. I’m just interpreting data and possibly seeing something that isn’t there but the 993 to 2008 period could easily be called the PED era.  Whether it is or not the increase started before the zone was changed and ended as MLB’s PED testing bit hard into the that issue.

That hits dropped at strikeouts increased is quite probably due to the way the newer generation of hitters approach the game more  than the size of the strike zone. Players strike out more now because they’ve grown up thinking strikeouts don’t matter. The fences and their home run trot is more important than putting a ball in play. Want proof? Watch your hitters when they face a defensive shift. Changing the strike zone will not change that.

The problem is not the zone, it’s the people who call the zone during the game; umpires.

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