2026 MLB (Non-Tigers) Thread

[Shelton]

16 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Sac bunts, in the AL, dropped steadily from .45 per game in 1978 to .08 in 2024.  It was .10 in 2025 and this year it's back up to .13 which is close to what it was in 2016 (.14).  I am pretty sure it will never come close to what it was in the 70s, but perhaps they have recognized that they overdid the non-bunting just a little bit.  

Does this include extra inning attempts with the placed runner on second?

[chasfh]

16 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Sac bunts, in the AL, dropped steadily from .45 per game in 1978 to .08 in 2024.  It was .10 in 2025 and this year it's back up to .13 which is close to what it was in 2016 (.14).  I am pretty sure it will never come close to what it was in the 70s, but perhaps they have recognized that they overdid the non-bunting just a little bit.  

I don’t think bunts could ever get back to what it was in 1978. That was a hangover year in the AL from both the pitchers’ era (low scoring) and from pitchers have recently batted (terrible hitters), so managers were still conditioned to sacrifice outs for a single run.

[Tiger337]

29 minutes ago, Shelton said:

Does this include extra inning attempts with the placed runner on second?

[gehringer_2]

17 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I don’t think bunts could ever get back to what it was in 1978. That was a hangover year in the AL from both the pitchers’ era (low scoring) and from pitchers have recently batted (terrible hitters), so managers were still conditioned to sacrifice outs for a single run.

doubly true if ABS increases average scoring. 

[Shelton]

5 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

doubly true if ABS increases average scoring. 

Is it true that ABS is expected to increase scoring?

[Tiger337]

5 minutes ago, Shelton said:

Is it true that ABS is expected to increase scoring?

Walks are up to 3.63 per game so far which would be the highest rate since 2000.  I am not sure whether walks are typically up early in the season, but walks also went way up after they started using it in AAA.  Of course, there could could be other factors which cause the increase, but it is plausible that ABS would be the reason.

 

[chasfh]

The Cubs have already had a ten-game winning streak and they're in the middle of a nine-game streak now. They are 7-12 outside those streaks.

[Sports_Freak]

3 hours ago, chasfh said:

The Cubs have already had a ten-game winning streak and they're in the middle of a nine-game streak now. They are 7-12 outside those streaks.

They are really good at home, at least, they have a good home record. I would take those streaks in a heartbeat.

[gehringer_2]

5 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Walks are up to 3.63 per game so far which would be the highest rate since 2000.  I am not sure whether walks are typically up early in the season, but walks also went way up after they started using it in AAA.  Of course, there could could be other factors which cause the increase, but it is plausible that ABS would be the reason.

 

My guess is that if ABS if producing the increase in walks, they will come back down - at least part of the way, because pitchers with poor command exposed by ABS will either adjust or be replaced by guys that have better command but maybe give up a little more contact. Either way, whether via walks or contact, there are going to be more guys on base, which should lead to some increase in run scoring.

The other effect I would speculate about is the top of zone change. Now every player has a fixed top to his strike zone which is going to be the same no matter who the umpire. That gives the player the chance to learn his zone to greater accuracy than before ABS. That has to be a second aid to hitters on top of not having to cope as much with the outside breaking ball that fools both players and umps and so often gets called a strike.

Edited 18 hours ago by gehringer_2

[Shelton]

12 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Walks are up to 3.63 per game so far which would be the highest rate since 2000.  I am not sure whether walks are typically up early in the season, but walks also went way up after they started using it in AAA.  Of course, there could could be other factors which cause the increase, but it is plausible that ABS would be the reason.

 

I would think that all else being equal, a increase in walks would increase scoring, of course. Are strikeouts down?

I’m surprised that batters would necessarily be the ones to use the challenge system to their advantage relative to pitchers. And I’m also surprised that umpires would call the zone differently to the batter’s benefit now that challenges are a threat. 
 

I guess we will see.
 

 

[Tiger337]

7 minutes ago, Shelton said:

I would think that all else being equal, a increase in walks would increase scoring, of course. Are strikeouts down?

I’m surprised that batters would necessarily be the ones to use the challenge system to their advantage relative to pitchers. And I’m also surprised that umpires would call the zone differently to the batter’s benefit now that challenges are a threat. 
 

I guess we will see.
 

 

Strikeouts are about the same as last year so far.  They are down from 2018-2024.  

Edited 11 hours ago by Tiger337

[gehringer_2]

11 minutes ago, Shelton said:

I’m also surprised that umpires would call the zone differently to the batter’s benefit now that challenges are a threat. 

I don't think there is any kind of decision to do so, but they are getting more immediate feedback and my guess is that is having an effect on those umpires who used to be more liberal calling strikes to the outside - where I think the 'worst' strikes called out of the zone have usually been.

Edited 11 hours ago by gehringer_2

[Shelton]

8 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

I don't think there is any kind of decision to do so, but they are getting more immediate feedback and my guess is that is having an effect on those umpires who used to be more liberal calling strikes to the outside - where I think the 'worst' strikes called out of the zone have usually been.

I think this makes sense but it’s also something that could probably be documented fairly easily via those “umpire scorecard” things. I’d be very interested to see if this is actually true or not. For it to be true, it would mean that umpires knew they were calling a bad zone before and only now are calling a better one. And that could definitely be true. Umpires are stubborn. 
 

I’m sure the data is there. Or there may be some other reason for walls being up and aka being level relative to last year. Could just be that the pitchers are worse.