MLB bats were heating up in month of May
Scherzer says his dog bit his hand, but he’ll be fine
NEW YORK — The major league batting average rose to .245 in May from .231 in April, leaving the overall figure for the first two months at .240, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
This year’s figure is four percentage points above last year’s average through the first two months.
Last season’s final average of .244 was the lowest since 1972. The slow starts in both this season and last appeared to threaten the record low of .237 in 1968. After that year of the pitcher, the mound height was lowered from 15 inches to 10.
Averages tend to be lower early in the season, when pitchers are ahead of the hitters and cold, wet weather impacts games in the parts of the U.S. Some speculated this year’s shortened spring training impacted early offense due to shorter appearances by starting pitchers and expanded rosters that allowed managers to bring in more hardthrowing relievers.
Home runs also were up slightly in the last month, rising from 0.91 in April to 1.08 in May. This year’s average of 1.00 is more than 10% below last year’s 1.13 per game. Last year averaged 1.14 in April and 1.12 in May, with average rising to 1.22 by the end of the season.
Hits per game rose from 7.62 per team per game in April to 8.29 in May.
Walks and strikeouts are down, with walks at 3.17 per game from last year’s 3.32 through May 31 and strikeouts at 8.33 from last year’s 8.99 for the first two months.
DOG BITES MAN: Injured Mets ace Max Scherzer confirmed Saturday that his dog bit his pitching hand this week, but he says the wound won’t slow his recovery from an oblique strain.
The New York Post reported Saturday that the right-handed Scherzer was bitten by a dog on his left hand, a second bizarre injury for New York this week after shortstop Francisco Lindor got his right hand caught in a hotel door and fractured the tip of his middle finger.
Scherzer, who has been out since May 18 and isn’t expected back until at least late June, confirmed the dog bite on Twitter, saying it was actually his pitching hand that got nipped. He also said his time line for a return hasn’t changed.
“Just clearing up a few things,” Scherzer wrote. “My dog Rafi hurt her leg on a run. She was howling in pain and I went to calm her down by putting my hands on her. When I did that she bit my right hand. Fortunately it wasn’t a bad bite. I took one day off from throwing and was able to long toss the next day. This will have no effect on my rehab and this is literally a non story.”
Scherzer is 5-1 with a 2.54 ERA in his first season with New York after signing a $130 million, three-year deal in December.
ROCKER’S RETURN: In Troy, N.Y., former Vanderbilt star right-hander Kumar Rocker returned to the mound Saturday night with the Class A Tri-City ValleyCats of the independent Frontier League, and his first experience as a pro ended after four innings of work.
Three years ago, Rocker led Vanderbilt to a College World Series title as a freshman and as a junior was drafted No. 10 overall last year by the New York Mets. He then walked away from the Mets when the two sides failed to reach an agreement by the August deadline because of concerns over the health of Rocker’s right arm. He was the only first-rounder not to sign.
The 22-year-old Rocker signed a minor league contract with Tri-City in mid-May that will keep him active until the MLB draft in July.
Saturday, with several major league scouts and a near sellout crowd of 4,088 at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium on hand to get a glimpse of Rocker’s first game since last June 30, the hard-throwing, 6-foot5, 245-pounder breezed through the first three innings against the TroisRivieres Aigles, his fastball topping out at over 98 mph. He threw 38 pitches and struck out five of 16 batters faced.