Basisphilosophie » NEW YORK (AP) Offense is on the rebound in Major League

Baseball.After a historic drop during the season’s first three months that concerned the sport’s leadership http://www.angelsfanproshop.com/authentic-zack-cozart-jersey , the big league batting average in July was .255, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, raising the season’s average from .246 to .248. Unless it goes up to at least .251 during the final two months, the season average would be the lowest since .244 in 1972.There were 6,546 hits and 6,195 strikeouts in July, reversing an anomaly in which strikeouts exceeded hits in two of the first three full months.Overall this season, batters have whiffed more than hit: There have been 27,285 strikeouts and 27,218 hits with the season about two-thirds through. Strikeouts topped hits in April (6,656 to 6,360) and June (6,776 to 6,640) while hits slightly exceeded strikeouts in May (7,033 to 6,971). Before this year, the previous low differential for a full month was in April 2017, when there were 138 more hits than strikeouts.Strikeouts per game averaged 16.6 in July, down from 16.9 in June, 16.75 in May and 17.5 in April, which was a record for a full calendar month. Strikeouts project to 41,207, which would be the 11th consecutive season setting a record, topping last year’s 40,104. The total was 32,884 in 2008.There were 857 home runs in 373 games in July, an average of 2.30 that left the season average at 2.29. The average was 2.52 through July last year, just above the record-setting final figure of 2.51.Weather could have been a factor in the early drop, since balls travel farther in warmer temperatures. The 48.9 degree average U.S. temperature in April was coldest since 1997, according to the National Weather Service, and May’s 65.4 degree average broke the previous high, set in 1934. June’s 71.5 degree average was the third-highest in 124 years of records, behind only 1933 and 2016. July data will not be available until next week.Baseball officials have attributed the offensive drop partly to the increased use of infield shifts and to more frequent pitching changes that bring hard-throwing relievers into games.”We think it’s our obligation to carefully monitor what are significant developments with respect to how the game is being played on the field Garrett Richards Jersey ,” baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said on the day of last month’s All-Star Game. ”The changes you’re seeing are being driven by smart people who want to win more baseball games.””The question for us becomes at what point do we want to step in, OK, and manage that organic change, reflect the judgment that this organic change may be driven by competition,” he added. ”There is a growing consensus or maybe even better an existing consensus among ownership that we need to have a really serious conversation about making some changes to the way the game is being played.”Batters cite increased velocity among pitchers.”I’ve talked to guys who have been around the league and I say, `Man, when you first came into the league 10, 11 years ago, did guys throw this hard?” They said, `No, back in the day 92, 93 was gasoline,”’ Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier said. ”There’s a stretch where we faced (Justin) Verlander, Charlie Morton, Lance McCullers, Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer, we faced all those guys within a calendar week, and it’s like, when does this ever stop?”Officials also are concerned about attendance – this year’s average of 28,863 is down 5.2 percent from 30,453 through July last year, and this season could be the first with an average below 30,000 since 2003. Baseball officials cite bad weather that had led to 45 postponements, six more than last year’s season total, and many early season games being played in temperatures below 40. But fan reaction to changes in the game and the many non-competitive teams also are factors.Players are reluctant to alter playing rules and reaching any consensus among them on what should be done has been difficult.”Over the last five years or so we’ve seen more changes to the game than we had in the number of years prior,” union head Tony Clark said at the All-Star Game. ”Even that in and of itself is concerning to the guys because they don’t want to get to a point and don’t want to get to a place where the fans that have always loved the game and been passionate about it are no longer enjoying it, and we’re also not engaging the next generation of fans along the way. That combination platter is very concerning to the players.”—AP freelance writer Mark Didtler in Tampa, Florida, contributed to this report.— It was a staple last year, but this year it’s lacking."All numbers are prior to Wednesday’s action.The rotation for the Red Sox has been an absolute train wreck through the first twelve games of the season, and more than anything else it is the reason Boston’s 2019 season has gotten off to such a poor start. No one would argue that unless they were trying desperately to be contrarian, and no one likes that person. It’s been one through five in the rotation http://www.angelsfanproshop.com/authentic-zack-cozart-jersey , too, with David Price definitely looking the best but even he is leaving something to be desired. The bullpen, meanwhile, has exceed all expectations, but it’s easy to imagine the extra work they’ve had due to the rotation’s struggles will catch up to them at some point if things don’t change. The Red Sox have been bad enough that you can’t pin this start on any one thing, but if you really wanted to the rotation would be the obvious choice.Because of all the aforementioned issues with the rotation, the lineup has been a bit overshadowed. Now, generally speaking the Red Sox lineup has scored some runs. They haven’t been a juggernaut by any means, but they’ve had some strong games and have a few guys looking good at the plate. Overall, though, a lot of these games have seen the Red Sox with a chance to open up a big, early lead with the lineup leaving guys on base. If they had converted some of these chances, those games could have been totally changed and the record may not be the same. You can’t really play that game, of course, but the point is things haven’t been perfect.As a unit, Boston’s offense is in the top half of the league in runs scored with 51, but just barely as they place in the 13th spot. Looking at a more complete picture of the offense, they find themselves in the bottom third of the league in terms of wRC+, placing 22nd with a mark of 85. In other words, the lineup as a whole has been about 15 percent worse than the league-average hitter in the early going, or slightly worse than Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rafael Devers were in 2018. That’s not great for a team that was one of the best in the league last year and expected to be deeper, if not better, in 2019. Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY SportsIt is, of course, a tiny sample we’re dealing with, but the issues have clearly come down to the quality of contact. The Red Sox are striking out a bit more than we’re used to, but at a rate of 20 percent it’s not alarmingly so. They are roughly average there as well as with their walk rate, but the power and batting average numbers have been brutal, and the early-season batted ball numbers back it up. They are pounding the ball into the ground with the third highest ground ball rate in baseball (per Fangraphs) and have struggled to turn on balls to their pull side with the ninth lowest pull rate in the league.We know that the hitters in this lineup are capable of crushing the ball on a regular basis, so it’s not merely a question of talent. Something with their process is off. Watching them, it has seemed anecdotally that they are being far too passive early in counts, which has led them to fall behind and play defense for the rest of the at bat. We know logically that fighting from behind is going to allow pitchers to throw more junk which in turn leads to uglier swings and weaker contact. Sure enough, the numbers indicate that is certainly happening. According to pitch info data on Fangraphs Huston Street Jersey , only three teams are seeing pitches in the zone more often than the Red Sox so far this year, and yet as a team they rank 16th in terms of swing rate. On pitches in the zone things are even worse, with their swing rate on those pitches ranking all the way down at 25th in the league. Last year’s mantra was “do damage” and the coaching staff preached aggressiveness up and down the lineup. This year, they have too often let good pitches go by instead of inflicting that damage. Sign up for FanPulse and make sure your voice is heard!Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty ImagesA great example was in the last at bat we saw when Mookie Betts had two on in a two-run game. He let a first pitch fastball right down the middle go by, then later let a one-strike hanging slider pass him by. In both of those situations he appeared to be waiting for one specific pitch in one specific zone instead of being ready to attack any pitch that came his way. It’s easier said than done to be ready for any sort of pitch, but at the same time we saw Betts ride that strategy to an MVP trophy last year.To look further into how this is shaping up among the whole team, I turned to Baseball-Reference’s Play-Index to see how often they were finding themselves in a few key situations. Through their first 12 games, the Red Sox have seen the fourth most 0-1 counts in all of baseball, and one of the teams ahead of them is the Athletics, who have played three more games. They have also seen the eighth most two-strike counts, and again Oakland ranks ahead of them there. Finally, they have swung and put a ball in play on the first pitch fewer than just ten teams in the league, four of which have played at least two fewer games.Now, contrast that to last year, when they ranked 18th, 17th and 15th in those three categories, respectively. It should also be mentioned that they have been great this year when putting the ball in play on the first pitch, putting up 1.209 OPS. That’s fifth in baseball. It’s a bit of a biased stat since they’ve been overly selective here and one would assume that if they are more aggressive those numbers would come down, but there’s a long way to fall before the numbers become an issue.Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY SportsThis has been a team-wide issue and at times has seemed to be tied to big situations (though that’s entirely anecdotal), but there are a couple of guys who have embodied this. I mentioned Betts above, and he’s been the worst about this. In 2019, his swing rate on pitches in the zone is all the way down to 48.2 percent. Last year he got that number up above 53 percent. Xander Bogaerts, meanwhile, was probably the biggest beneficiary of the more aggressive approach in 2018 when his Z-Swing rate climbed up above 61 percent. In 2019, it’s fallen back down to below 51 percent. Both of these guys have been solid to good this year, to be fair, but Bogaerts isn’t hitting for the same power for last year while Betts’ strikeout to walk numbers are off to a rough start. This isn’t the best version of either of them.As we’ve been saying constantly through these struggles and as we’re going to hear a lot more over the next few weeks: It’s still early. That is true for everything, but it feels particularly true for the offense. They haven’t played as well as they are capable of early in the year, even if some of the issues have been overshadowed by the rotation woes. The good news is we all know they are capable of better, and a simple adjustment in approach should go a long way. Pitchers are pounding the zone right now and daring the Red Sox to swing. It’s about time they take them up on that offer.