MLB rumors: 2017 was a really bad year for older position players

MLB rumors and rumblings. Declining Playing Time for Older Players

Position players 35 and older received just five percent of the total plate appearances last year, which is the lowest percentage since 1978. This was a significant change from the turn of the millennium when older players received more than twice the playing time they’re getting now. Here is the trend in five-year increments.

Percent of All Plate Appearances by Players 35 and older:

• 1988-1992—7 percent
• 1993-1997—8 percent
• 1998-2002—10 percent
• 2003-2007—12 percent
• 2008-2002—10 percent
• 2013-2017—7 percent

This trend of less playing time for older players could be seen as a return to baseball the way it was before the offensive surge in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The most recent five-year stretch matches up well with baseball from 1988 to 1998, before it started to trend upward in 1999.

In 2000, players 35 and older accounted for 11 percent of the plate appearances for the first time since 1986. Their playing time peaked in 2004 and 2007 (13 percent each year) and stayed at or near that level through the 2011 season before its recent downward slide to last year’s five percent.

The heart of the high-offense era was the peak period of playing time for older players. It could be a result of PED use that enabled players to stay on the field later well into their careers. Or it could be a cyclical thing that just happens in baseball. Most likely, it was at least in part because of PED use, but if it’s a cyclical thing, perhaps we’ll see the current group of players under 35 age better than their recent predecessors.

Of course, if the oldest group of players are getting less playing time, a different age group has to be getting more playing time. All age groups fluctuate a bit, with some peaks and valleys, but the oldest group and youngest group are experiencing the most significant changes over the last five years.