Brandon’s World: Evaluating MLB’s First Two Weeks Of Season
It’s been two weeks since Major League Baseball (MLB) began their 2020 campaign, a 60-game sprint to the finish to crown a World Series Champion after the majority of the season was taken away due to COVID-19. Going into the 60-game sprint, everybody who followed baseball knew there would be plenty of surprises, and that this season was going to be like no other. MLB instituted new rules, including relieve pitchers having to face a minimum of three batters before being taken out of the ball game, a runner starting on second base in extra innings, doubleheader games only lasting seven innings and a universal designated hitter (DH).
So far, the season has been a whirlwind of emotions. There’s been some great baseball being played even without fans, but there’s been a lot of cancellations due to a few COVID-19 outbreaks, and questions still remain as to whether the MLB season is going to finish on time. All of these questions lie at the feet of Commissioner Rob Manfred, who has taken a (rightful) beating about the way he has handled the start of the season.
The Presentation:
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the return of baseball and haven’t missed the fans that much at all. Is it weird to be in a close game late or have a big time strikeout or hit and not hear the roar of the crowd? Of course, but besides that, there’s really nothing different about the overall aspect of the game. However, MLB: PLEASE THROW AWAY ALL THE CARDBOARD CUTOUTS! They just look so ridiculous to me!
The Rule Changes:
Even before the shutdown, Commissioner Manfred mandated the three batter minimum for relief pitchers, and almost every manager unanimously scoffed at it. It’s going to cause injuries because relievers arms are not trained to pitch the way Manfred thinks they are! If Manfred abolished this rule today, every manager would throw a virtual party to celebrate!
The rule was enforced by Manfred because he wants faster pace of play, yet the average MLB game this season is up by 0.2 (3.07 vs 3.05 in 2019), and the average time of games has increased almost every season since Manfred became commissioner in 2015.
Manfred’s other role to increase pace of play was to institute that during the regular season, in extra innings, a runner would start on second base. This rule has mixed emotions among players and managers. I think Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger summed it up perfectly.
The doubleheader games only lasting seven innings doesn’t make any sense to me. It changes the strategy of the game. Two innings is a lot of time in baseball, especially if the game is close, and does a two inning game really make that big of a difference? Does it allow that much time for the players to recuperate and for the staff to sanitize and clean? I’m not a medical expert, but I doubt it.
The universal DH has been a talking point among everybody involved in the game forever. As a fan of an American League team (the Indians), I support the universal DH. I believe the extra hitters gives lineups more flexibility, more people jobs and it allows the pitchers to just focus on doing their job; pitching. However, I understand why some baseball purest like the idea of having the pitcher bat in the National League because it does provide an extra element of strategy into the game.
The Play:
Every person who knows baseball will tell you that in order to win World Series’ you must have a strong starting rotation, good defense and a terrific bullpen because it doesn’t matter how good your lineup is, good pitching will defeat good hitting almost every time. So far, pitching has dominated this season.
The Top 10 Teams in Earned Run Average (ERA). (Teams must have played at least 10 games as of Aug. 6, 2020 to be in this data, eliminating the Marlins (№3), the Nationals (№5), the Brewers (№9), the Cardinals (№13) and the Blue Jays (№14)):
- Indians- 2.21
- Dodgers- 2.42
- Twins- 2.69
- Athletics- 2.97
- Rockies- 3.03
- Reds- 3.35
- Rays- 3.63
- Cubs- 3.63
- Braves- 3.76
- Yankees- 4.20
Out of the 10 teams listed, only the Reds (5–7) and Rays (5–7) are below .500. The top seven teams in baseball (Twins, Cubs, Yankees, Rockies, Dodgers, Athletics and Braves) make the list.
Top 10 Teams in Hitting Average (Teams must have played at least 10 games as of Aug. 6, 2020 to be in this data, eliminating the Nationals (№8) and the Phillies (№10):
- White Sox- .279
- Rockies- .266
- Mets- .261
- Yankees- .257
- Astros- .254
- Red Sox- .254
- Giants- .248
- Dodgers- .241
- Cubs- .241
- Braves- .238
Out of the ten teams listed only 5/10 (or 50%) of the teams listed in the previous table made the list (Rockies, Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs and Braves). Out of the other five, only the Astros and White Sox have an above .500 record. The Red Sox, Giants and Mets are all currently last in their division.
In my opinion, the play hasn’t differed at all. Pitching has dominated the game, and the teams that hit well and pitch well are doing phenomenal. The teams that pitch well but don’t hit well are keeping themselves a float while the teams that hit well and don’t pitch well are generally struggling, with a few exceptions to every rule.
Conclusion:
Overall, baseball hasn’t changed much at all. While some of the rule changes are not my cup of tea, generally nothing different has shocked me. There’s been some surprises in the league, such as the Rockies getting off to such a hot start as they were expected to finish fourth in the NL West, and the Red Sox starting off equally as bad as their win total over/under at 31.5, but It’s still the same game baseball fans know and love.
Brandon Lewis is a columnist, radio show host and podcaster. Check out his podcast, Brandon’s World, here, and follow him on Twitter @real_bworld. Columns will be out every Friday!
