A group of analysts presented to MLB owners in August a statistical “state of the game.” The overriding question in the room was this: If the uniform adoption of analytics to build teams and win games is good for general managers, is it good for the consumer product of baseball? And if it’s not—if analytics generally favor run prevention and make for a game with more stoppages, more strikeouts, more relief pitchers and fewer balls put in play less often—should MLB do something about it? Does MLB just let the natural ebb and flow of the game and its offense/defense balance run its course?
Freakish jumps in home runs, strikeouts among MLB's nine micro trends in 2016
