For the first time ever, major-league batters strike out more often than they record hits, the ultimate distillation of the realities of modern baseball, where power—on both sides of the ball—reigns.
Never before had MLB seen a full month with more total strikeouts than hits. There hadn’t even been a month where the gap between the two was less than 100. April 2017 was the closest the sport had come to strikeouts overtaking hits, with a difference of 138.
Heading into Monday’s slate, the final 11 scheduled contests on the April schedule, hitters had whiffed 7,163 times. They had collected just 6,808 hits. Nearly 35% of all plate appearances this season have ended in a walk, strikeout or home run, up from less than 29% 10 years ago.
Never before had MLB seen a full month with more total strikeouts than hits. There hadn’t even been a month where the gap between the two was less than 100. April 2017 was the closest the sport had come to strikeouts overtaking hits, with a difference of 138.
Heading into Monday’s slate, the final 11 scheduled contests on the April schedule, hitters had whiffed 7,163 times. They had collected just 6,808 hits. Nearly 35% of all plate appearances this season have ended in a walk, strikeout or home run, up from less than 29% 10 years ago.
