The roster construction strategy made sense. Not only does Kauffman Stadium have the biggest outfield in baseball, the KC Royals deploy the best defensive outfielders in the game measured by Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). Unfortunately, hitters have slammed home runs in 3.06% of their plate appearances across baseball. Major league hitters have never before cracked the 3% barrier.
Hitters are unlikely to surpass the total home run record set in 2000; but, teams had around 5,000 more plate appearances due to a favorable run scoring environment. Even so, Jeff Passan at Yahoo.com estimates that hitters will finish 2016 with the second highest home run total in major-league history.