What's up with the scoring?
7/12/2018

What’s up with the scoring?

 

Fans who examine the records section of the MCBL website and/or look at the run production in the standings may have noticed that something……well……a bit unusual is going on this year.   Specifically the average number of runs being scored per game has increased, fairly significantly.

 

Why do we say this?  With the season just over 3/4 complete, consider the following:

 

  1. Over the entire history of MCBL, teams have averaged scoring 4.939 runs per game in the regular season.  This year teams are scoring 6.018 runs per game…..a 21.8 % increase. 

 

  1. In the entire history of MCBL, only 2 teams have managed to average scoring 6.75 or more runs per game over the entire season.   This year 3 teams are scoring 6.89 or more runs per game.

 

  1. Prior to this 2018 season, a team has scored 19 or more runs in a single game……four times.  Five times this year alone a team has scored 19 or more runs in a single game.

 

  1. In the entire history of MCBL, only 7 teams have scored 192 or more runs in the regular season.  With the 2018 season only 77 % complete, 2 teams have already scored more than 192 runs.

 

You might be tempted to say that the increase is due to introduction of the NCAA low-seam baseball.  The first year they were used was for the 2017 season….and runs went up 3.5 % over the prior year

 

However, when looking at recent history, the low-seam baseball alone doesn't explain the increase.  In fact, league scoring averages have been steadily going up:

 

         2014:  4.353

         2015:  4.377

         2016:  5.384

         2017:  5.577

         2018:  6.018

 

To be fair, MCBL went to using a league wide baseball in 2016.  Prior to 2016, teams supplied their own baseballs.  Perhaps a few teams were using slightly less expensive baseballs that were softer (e.g., less bounce off the bats) or prone to quickly becoming mis-shapened.

 

Also to be fair, the pace for scoring in 2018 may, in fact, be picking up.  During the weekend of July 7th and 8th, 132 runs were scored in the 10 games played…….an average of 6.6 runs per team.   The winning teams averaged 8.0 runs per game. 

 

Something seems to be going on.  Have wooden bats improved?   Have hitters improved?  Has pitching suffered?  Are defenses more porous?  

 

Hopefully time will tell……or perhaps we’ll never know.

 

See ya at the ballfield!

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