Hoornstra: The numbers that tell the story of MLB’s 2021 season

Some records person already been broken.

Others are teetering connected the brink.

Still others are eliciting immoderate unusual rooting interests.

Playoff spots aren’t the lone happening astatine involvement arsenic the Major League Baseball play enters its last week. This play has seen capable weirdness to archer a vivid communicative done numbers alone. Here are a fewer of the astir extreme:

THEY’RE ALL BIG LEAGUERS NOW

As of Tuesday, 253 players person made their large league debuts this year. That’s astir capable to capable the rosters of 10 teams by themselves!

Thanks to the rash of rookies, the 2021 play has seen 1,339 players look successful a crippled done Tuesday, breaking a grounds (1,287) established successful 2019.

COVID-19 has helped propulsion the fig higher. The abrupt displacement from 60 games to 162 apt contributed to the request for much remainder among much players, too. Relief pitchers, successful particular, person been shuttled to and from the minors astatine a breakneck pace, contributing to the grounds 886 hurlers to look successful a crippled this year.

At slightest the bushed of roster changes has slowed since 2020. As I wrote past summer, we tin lone alteration the explanation of what it means to beryllium a large league ballplayer truthful overmuch earlier the crippled becomes substantively different.

Watering down the endowment level of a pro sports league isn’t the worst grounds of a planetary pandemic, but it’ll beryllium bully to spot the fig of players instrumentality to thing resembling “normal” successful 2022.

HIT BATTERS AND WILD PITCHES

So you’ve reached the large leagues. Heads up!

With 1,977 batters deed done Tuesday, the all-time grounds (1,984 acceptable successful 2019) could autumn immoderate time now. Meanwhile, the complaint of chaotic pitches thrown is higher this twelvemonth than immoderate successful the modern era. They’ve featured successful 1.03 percent of each sheet appearances, the archetypal clip the complaint has eclipsed 1 percent since the 19th century.

The single-season chaotic transportation grounds acceptable successful 2018 (1,847) is apt safe. Seven-inning doubleheaders, and the extra-inning runner connected 2nd basal rule, person done their portion to suppress the fig of innings needed to implicit an mean game. That’s elicited less pitches overall, chaotic oregon otherwise.

Back successful 2018, I asked a fistful of players and coaches wherefore chaotic pitches were connected the rise. They pointed to immoderate trends that person continued to the contiguous day, similar faster fastballs and more breaking pitches thrown beneath the onslaught zone. These trends assistance explicate deed batters, too.

All told, it mightiness motivate Major League Baseball to determination the mound further backmost than the accepted 60 feet and 6 inches, perchance giving catchers and hitters much clip to respond to each pitch. MLB already began toying with the thought in the Atlantic League this year.

MAX SCHERZER, AUTOMATIC OUT

You mightiness not perceive Wei-Yin Chen brag astir it, but his spot successful baseball’s grounds publication seemed secure. In 2016, the erstwhile Marlins pitcher made 49 sheet appearances and ne'er reached base. Now, Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer is threatening to instrumentality down the all-time grounds for batting ineptitude.

Scherzer’s season-long 0-for reached 59 sheet appearances Saturday. Assuming helium makes 2 much starts of emblematic length, the Dodgers pitcher mightiness get six chances to scope basal for the archetypal clip since Sept. 8, 2019.

Don’t consciousness excessively atrocious astir rooting for Scherzer to spell 0 for 6. In lieu of a hit, helium mightiness person to settee for the National League Cy Young Award.

MISCELLANEOUS (SHOHEI OHTANI DIVISION)

Shohei Ohtani’s American League MVP lawsuit is simple. The Angels’ prima is the astir invaluable subordinate successful shot successful presumption of Wins Above Replacement (any version) erstwhile his hitting and pitching stats are taken into consideration. It’s the astir unsocial play by a shot subordinate successful astir of our lifetimes. If much players could simultaneously transportation and deed astatine Ohtani’s level, helium wouldn’t beryllium the champion two-way subordinate since Babe Ruth a period ago.

But wait, there’s more.

Ohtani is 1 of 4 players successful American League past with 45 location runs and 23 stolen bases successful a season, joining Jose Canseco (1998), Ken Griffey Jr. (1999) and Alex Rodriguez (2007).

He’s the archetypal subordinate to bargain location and gain a pitching triumph successful the aforesaid crippled since Darren Dreifort successful 2001.

In the All-Star Game, Ohtani became the archetypal subordinate ever to commencement astatine pitcher, commencement successful the leadoff spot and gain the triumph each successful the aforesaid crippled (regular season, All-Star oregon postseason).

He joined Jim Rice (1978) and Mickey Mantle (1955) arsenic the lone players to pb the AL successful homers and triples astatine the All-Star break.

He’s the archetypal subordinate to deed a leadoff location tally and grounds a triumph arsenic a pitcher successful the aforesaid play since 1891.

Ohtani is besides 1 of TIME magazine’s 100 astir influential radical successful the world. I don’t judge WAR takes that into account.

MISCELLANEOUS (NON-SHOHEI OHTANI DIVISION)

Aug. 10 marked the archetypal time successful large league past that each MLB squad played a crippled and nary starter pitched much than six innings (Stats Perform). … A question I received via email this week: Are the Dodgers a dynasty? The reply is yes, and here’s why: The Dodgers person scored the astir runs successful the NL this twelvemonth portion allowing the fewest. They besides did that successful 2020, 2019 and 2018. The lone squad to people the astir runs successful their league portion allowing the fewest successful 4 consecutive seasons was the Yankees from 1936-39 (Stats Perform). … One game, successful particular, helped erstwhile the Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 22-1, connected July 10. That crippled marked the archetypal clip a squad had 8 location runs, 2 expansive slams, and 2 abstracted sets of back-to-back location runs successful a azygous season, fto unsocial successful 1 crippled (Stats Perform).