MLB: Three factors contributing to increased home run rates

Three factors contributing to more home runs

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The first thing one should consider when determining which factors might be contributing to increased home run rates is the level of pitching. The fact of the matter is that pitching has been really bad this 2019 MLB season.

In fact, in terms of ERA, this season the league’s ERA currently sits at 4.51, which is the highest its been in 13-years. What’s more, pitchers are currently giving up 4.84 runs per game (R/G) which is the highest it’s been since 2007 (4.80 R/G). Also, there are SEVEN teams with an ERA of 5+ in MLB which hasn’t been done since the year 2000, when 10 teams did it.

There’s also the fact that with the launch angle (LA) revolution, hitters are purposefully trying to get the ball in the air. Because of this, an increase in home runs is bound to occur.

Let’s take the aforementioned players — Dietrich, Marte, and La Stella — for example.

• Derek Dietrich averages a 15.9° LA for his career. This season, he has a 19.8° LA.
• Ketel Marte averages a 7.3° LA for his career. This season, he has an 11.5° LA.
• Tommy La Stella averages a 12.7° LA for his career. This season, he has a 13.4° LA.

Finally, according to this piece on Popular Science, Climate Change might be playing a role in the increase in home runs. This piece details the best weather conditions for hitting a home run, proving FIVE factors that can affect the distance a ball travels. Among them, there’s:

1. Humidity – This makes the air less dense and therefore balls will travel farther.
2. Altitude and barometric pressure – The higher up you go, the less dense the air is, therefore balls will travel farther — think Coors Field.
3. Air Temperature – In hotter temperatures, the air becomes less dense, therefore… you know what that means.

In conclusion, it is possible that the balls are juiced, however, we’d be remiss if we didn’t consider these other factors as well. The bottom line is, MLB is undergoing a mass popularity problem.

More home runs will attract more fans and could eventually be the thing that saves baseball… again.