Two weeks into the Major League Baseball season, offense is down, home runs are disappearing, complete games are nonexistent and the overreaction machine is working in overdrive.
You have questions. We have answers.
It feels like my team isn't scoring very much. Am I wrong?
Nope. Scoring has dropped, and it's almost entirely attributable to one big change from last year. This year's batting average (.234) is identical to last year's through 10 team games. On-base percentage is up .001. But the leaguewide slugging percentage is down from .392 each of the past two years to .380 this season. Accordingly, runs per game have dipped from 4.44 last season to 4.22 this year -- nearly a 5% decrease.
And that's because home runs are down. Like, way down, as the numbers from ESPN Stats & Information's Mike Bonzagni show. And while the rates certainly grow as the weather warms, numbers since MLB introduced Statcast starting in 2015 indicate the difference between those exhibited through 10 games aren't altogether different from a full 162-game season.